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HENDKICK B. WRIGHT.
P L Y BI U T 11 11 O C K.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
OP
PLYMOUTH,
LUZERNE CO., PENNA.
BY HES"DRIOK B. WEIGHT,
OF WILKES-BARRE, PA
With Twenty- Five Photographs of some of the Early Settlers and Present
Residents of the Town of Plymouth; Old Landmarks ; Family
Residences-: and Places of Special Note.
PHILADELPHIA:^
T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS;
306 CHESTNUT STREET.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
HENDRICK B. WRIGHT,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
DEDICATION.
To Hendeeson Gayloed, Esq.,
Mt Deae Sie : — Three of your name and kin-
dred were members of Captain Samuel Kansom's
company, in the Eevolutionary War. Another was
a lieutenant in Captain Whittlesey's company, and
fell in the memorable battle of Wyoming, on the
third of July, 1778.
Among the brave men who volunteered under the
flag of our country in the recent Eebellion, your
son, Asher, occupied as proud a position for courage
as the best of them; and was stricken down upon
the field, covered with three honorable scars, which
he had previously received in the same number of
engagements.
A private of his company informed me, since the
following sketches were prepared for the press, that
(17)
18 DEDICATION.
" Captain Gaylord was ever in front of his men
in the heat of action ; bidding them ' to follow him/
A braver soldier, or more daring man, never drew
sword from scabbard."
As the survivor, therefore, of a family possessing
such a record ; and having been yourself one of the
most successful of our early merchants — a man of
exemplary private character, exalted Christian vir-
tues, and liberal charities ; to all of which, I have
been myself a witness for more than half a century
— it affords me much gratification, to dedicate to
you these sketches, which are designed to preserve, in
grateful memory, recollections of the representative
men of Old Plymouth, who have reached that goal,
towards which we are both rapidly advancing.
Very Sincerely Yours,
THE AUTHOR.
Wilkes-Barre, AprU lOtli, 1873.
CONTENTS.
' CHAPTER I.
Its name. — wheis" settled, . . . Page 33
CHAPTER n.
The Shawkee Tribe of Ijtdians, and the Fikst
White Man. — Grasshopper Battle, . 41
CHAPTER in.
The First Settlers, . . . . . . 59
CHAPTER IV.
The Pennamite and Yankee War. — Commencement
OF Troubles.— Captain Stewart. — Lieutenant
Jenkins. — Patterson's Administration. — Ar-
rest AND Imprisonment of Settlers. — Battle
of Nanticoke, 71
(19)
20 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
Pennamite and Yankee "War continued. — ^Ice
Flood. — Expulsion of the Settlers and Acts
OF Cruelty Inflicted upon Them. — Settlers
Return. — Fight on Ross Hill. — Tories Driven
OUT OF Shawnee, 110
CHAPTER VI.
Pennamite War. — Legislation. — Decree at Tren-
ton. — Confirming Act. — Compromise Act. —
Peace. — John" Franklin, .... 129
CHAPTER VII.
Revolutionary War. — Patriotism. — Captain Dur-
kee's and Captain Ransom's Companies. — Gar-
rison Hill. — Our Men Under Fire. — Wash-
ington's Opinion of Them. — Battle of Wyo-
MDsrG. — Mr. Washburn's Statement, . 156
CHAPTER VIII.
Indian Murderers and Prisoners. — Conduct of
the British Government. — Perkins, Williams,
. BiDLACK, Pike, Rogers, Van CAmpen, Pence,
Benjamin and Elisha Harvey, George P.
Ransom, Louis Harvey, Lucy Bullford and
McDowell, 200
CHAPTER IX.
The War of 1812, 242
CONTENTS. 21
CHAPTER X.
Town Meetings. — Eaklt System of Laws. — Fiest
Town Officers, . . . . . . 255
CHAPTER XI.
Occupations and Habits of the People in Ear-
ly Days. — Industry. — Economy. — Church. —
School-Teachees. — Rogers, Patterson, Curtis,
Sweet, and others, ... . . 268
CHAPTER Xn.
Old Landmarks. — Pound, Swing-Gate, Common-
field, Sign-Post, Mills, Etc., . ' . . 284
CHAPTER Xni.
Shad Fisheries. — Game, .... 293
CHAPTER XIY.
Early Merchants, 303
CHAPTER XY.
Coal Trade, antd Coal Men, . . . 313
CHAPTER XVI.
Early Physicians — Morse, Moreland, Chamber-
lain, AND Gaylord, 332
22 CONTENTS.
CIIArTER XYll.
EauIA- ruK.VOUKUS— IvOGEKS, Le-^VIS, LANE, PeARCE,
AND Peck, 341
CIIAl^TER XVIII.
Old Families. — The Bidlacks', . . . 851
ClLVrTER XIX.
Oi.u Famu.f.s continued — IvEWNoi.os" — N"esbitts' —
AVadhams' — Davekpokts' — Van Loon"s' — Pein-
GLEs' — Turners' — ^Athertoxs' — C ashes' — L .vmek-
ovx, 3G0
CHxVPTER XX.
OlO FamU IKS CONTINUED — JoSEPH WrIGHT, . 402
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PoETRAiT OF Heitdrick B. Wright, . Frontispiece.
Plymouth Rock, " "
Portrait of Jameson- Harvey, . . Fage 109
The Old Ransom House, ..." 164
Portrait of Colonel George P. Ransom,
(Taken at 85), "240
The Old Elm, or Whippin"G-Post, . " 266
The Old Academy, " 279
The Wright House, and Birth-place of
the Author, " 306
John B. Smith's Opera House, . " 309
Portrait of Hejstderson" Gaylord, . " 311
Portrait of Samuel Davenport, . . " 313
Abijah Smith's Coal Opening of 1807, " 315
Portrait of John" Smith, . . . . " 317
Portrait of Freemai^ Thomas, . . " 327
Portrait of John" B. Smith, ..." 332
(23)
24 list of illustrations.
Residence op Henderson Gaylord, ,
Portrait of Rev. George Lane,
Portrait of Rev. Benjamin Bidlack,
Portrait of Benjamin Reynolds,
Portrait of William C. Reynolds, .
The Wadhams House, .
Portrait of Calvin Wadhams,
Portrait of Samuel Wadhams, .
Portrait of Elijah C. Wadhams, .
Portrait of Joseph Wright,
Page
340
a
347
a
352
a
361
u
365
«
371
((
376
u
379
u
380
((
402
PREFACE.
In a conversation, some months since, with an old
Plymouth friend, he remarked : — " that all of the
original settlers of the town had gone to their final
resting-place, and that but a few of their children
remained — and that these were now far advanced in
years; that some of the old family names had become
extinct; and that some one ought to prepare and
write out a few biographical sketches of the most
noted and prominent pioneers of the town. Their
descendants should be informed of their early trials,
sacrifices, and exposures; and what a vast amount
of labor they performed, and what hardships they
endured, to lay the foundation of all that wealth,
which their kindred were now realizing."
I replied, that I thought Mr. Charles Miner had
pretty well accomplished this, in his " Hazleton Trav-
(25)
26 PEEFACE.
ellers." He said, " no ; and if I would refer to Mr.
Miner's "book, I would see that h.e had written of but
some four or five Plymouth, families. Mr. Miner
spoke of the representative men, of the old time,
throughout the entire valley. His limits would not,
of course, permit him to go into that detail, which I
am now suggesting,"
I said that the publication of a volume containing
such biographical notices, would be attended with
very considerable labor and expense ; that the sub-
ject matter of the book would be entirely local, and
of little interest, save to the comparatively small num-
ber of people, who were the immediate descendants
of the first settlers of the town, and it would also be
a difficult matter to procure a competent person to
perform it.
He replied, by saying, "that he thought I
was the only person living possessing the necessary
knowledge of the old people of the town — many of
whom were, in their day and generation, men of mark;
some of whom had rendered their country signal
services, while others had been carried into captivity
by the Indians — to write a personal history of their
exploits, sufferings, and perils, and he thought that I
PREFACE. 27
ought to be willing to bestow the labor of doing the
work.
" That as to the cost of publishing the work, when
written, if the descendants of the old heroes who are
now sitting down in comfortable ease and luxury,
enjoying the fruits of the large coal properties which
they have inherited, and which are the legacies re-
sulting from the toil and hardships, as well as the
sagacity of their ancestors, are unwilling to foot
the bill, why, you and I will do it for them,"
With much warmth and feeling he continued; "it
will be, at most, a paltry sum; and the memories of
many of these old people are dear to us, and there-
fore let us put them in history ! There is not a New
England town of the population of ours that has not
its local history written out and published, and so let
us have our history — ^we have the materials to make
it one of interest, and it should be done."
" Therefore," said he, " go at it, and when you
have completed it, name my share to be contributed."
Impelled, therefore, by such generous impulses,
I could not well decline; and accordingly, soon after
this conversation, I commenced writing out some of
the personal notices of the representative men of the
28 PREFACE.
town, contained in the following pages. But in tra-
cing out the characters of the subjects I had selected,
I found they were so intimately blended with the
startling and exciting events of the Revolutionary
struggle, "the Yankee and Pennamite" dispute,
Indian captivities, and border raids, that mere bio-
graphical sketches of a few leading men, would not
correspond with my own ideas, at least, as to what
was due to old Plymouth, and the hardy and intrepid
men who had founded the town.
I therefore concluded that instead of drawing a
series of personal portraits, I would write up the his-
tory of the town. Not a history precisely, either,
with its connected chain of events, dates, and chrono-
logical tables; but rather outlines and sketches of
the principal men, and most noted events; commenc-
ing with the settlement of the town, and continuing
down to the year 1850 ; noting the early habits,
customs, and amusements of the old settlers; giving
memoranda of the early merchants, ministers of the
gospel, physicians and schoolmasters; also an account
of the shad fisheries, old land-marks, game, and
many other matters purely municipal, but still of
interest to those who had knowledge upon the sub-
PREFACE. 29
jects directly, or held them, in tradition, from their
fathers.
For half of the period of the hundred years of
which I write, I have a personal knowledge. Being
a native of the town, and a resident in it for a num-
ber of years, I had a personal knowledge of, and an
intimate acquaintance with, I may say, nearly all the
people of the town for more than half a century.
From the survivors of the first settlers I received the
traditionary characters of their cotemporaries and
predecessors. This personal knowledge, therefore,
enabled me to collate and prepare materials for the
volume which, under other circumstances, would
have been attended with much trouble and great
research.
Many of the events which I have written out,
have been heretofore given to the public by the his-
torical writers of the valley. I have therefore, not in
all cases, cited authorities, for the reason that I
had the same sources of information, and had become
familiar with them long before their publication.
The traditionary history of the town was a subject as
thoroughly fixed in my mind, as the lessons taught
me in the old Academy. As to facts, in some cases,
30
PREFACE.
I diifcr with tlic authors who have preceded me and
who have written upon tlie same subject matter.
I have done tliis, however, under the impression that
my sources of information were the most reliable.
For instance, the tragedy attending the capture
of Pike, Rogers and others, is stated differently by
me, compared with previously written accounts of it.
I made this change, because I have had repeatedly an
extended and minute account of the whole affair from
the mouths of both these men. While all the writers
agree in the main, they are widely apart as to some
of the minor details. This has been mainly pro-
duced by the incorrect statements, from time to time
made, by Van Campen, and which have been received
as truths.
When, therefore, I am in collision with the gentle-
men who have gone over the same ground before me
as to the verity of any point, I must fall back upon
what I regard as my own superior opportunities of
information. Nor have I, in such cases, relied wholly
upon my own knowledge; but have consulted with
aged persons, old residents of the town now living,
whoso facilities of information were even better than
my own; and have accordingly declined to change
PREFACE, 31
the thread of published history without their concur-
rence in opinion with me. But as the changes so
made are comparatively few, and do not materially
alter former texts, it was probably hardly necessary
to have been alluded to at all. Still, those who write
should be very exact in their statements, especially on
historical matters. It is in this view that I have
made allusion to the subject.
To Jameson Harvey and Henderson Gaylord, both
aged gentlemen, and old residents of the town, I am
under deep obligations for many of tlie facts and inci-
dents contained in the volume.
To Stewart Pearce, author of the Annals of Lu-
zerne, and Steuben Jenkins, both gentlemen who have
devoted much time to the research of those t]iin<2:s
which concern the early settlement and occupation of
the valley by our ancestors, I also tender the expres-
sions of my gratitude. Mr. Pearce is, upon his
mother's side, of the family of Captain Lazarus Stew-
art, whose name occurs honorably in the following
pages. Mr. Jenkins is a lineal descendant of Colonel
John Jenkins, who headed the first Connecticut
immigrant colony that set foot upon the banks
of the Susquehanna.
32 - PEEFACE.
Both of these gentlemen have for many years
past been very industrious and persevering in hunting
out and treasuring up the early antiquities of the
valley, and have thus become possessed of a large
store of historic matter, from which, at their request
and approval, I have made liberal draughts.
The photographic Hkenesses, and vievs^s, were
executed and prepared by Mr. William H. Schurch,
of Scranton, in this county. It is to be hoped that
the clever style, and artistic manner in which they
have been produced, may lead to a more general
patronage towards him upon the part of the peo-
ple of the valley.
Wiltes-Barre, April lOth, 1873.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
CHAPTER I.
ITS NAME. ^WHEN SETTLED.
I DESIGN to write some of the historical events of
Plymouth ; give sketches of some of the early set-
tlers, and note clown some of the old landmarks. In
a few years those who were cotemporaneous with a
generation which held the tradition of its early his-
tory, will have passed away, as the old monuments
and once noted emblems are fast disappearing. For
more than fifty years I have had a personal knowl-
edge of the place. It is the town of my nativity ;
for there, on the twenty-fourth day of April, 1808, I
first saw the light of day. The twenty years follow-
ing, it was my home, and since that time I have lived
in close vicinity to it. My father died there, and it
had been his residence for more than three-fourths of
his long and well-spent life.
I do not therefore hear the name of Plymouth
pronounced that it does not remind me of my old
home, and bring vividly before me the scenes of my
(33)
34 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
cliildliood. There is something inexplicable that
clings to the memory connected with the place of our
birth. However humble it may have been, its name
has a charm which lingers upon the memory, and
which we dwell upon with a keen satisfaction. And
how forcibly will this strike the minds of many who
now reside there, engaged in busy and exciting em-
ployments, who may chance to read this, whose homes
in early life are separated from them by the great
ocean !
These reflections carry me back through a long
term of years, and bring before me afresh the faces
and forms of men, now passed away, who, in their day
and generation, were the representative men of the
town ; who filled the local offices, who established
the public morals, and whose opinion and judgment
were the law of the vicinage. They were a hardy and
resolute people, as I first knew them — and they were,
many of them, the same men who had erected their
residences upon the same places, where the fires had
scarcely abated, around which had assembled, in coun-
cil, the Indian braves and sachems. These had gath-
ered up their implements of the chase, wound their
blankets about their swarthy shoulders, and with their
squaws and papooses, turned their faces, and com-
menced their march toward the setting sun, to give
place, under the laws of destiny, to those who were to
succeed them.
The conqueror and the vanquished have gone to
THE EAELT SETTLERS. 35
their last home ; the Indian to his hunting-ground in
the Spirit Land, and the pale face to the white man's
Heaven. Who can say that the destination of both is
not in the same sphere ?
It is some idea of the appearance and character
of some of these early settlers of Plymouth, as I knew
them, and as I am informed from other reliable sources,
that I would write down — that it may be preserved to
their descendants. To a large portion of the people
of the present populous town, the subject of which I
write may not be of any special interest ; but to that
portion of the population whose fathers and grandfa-
thers were among the first settlers of the town, I am
quite certain that it will. The labor upon my part
will be considerable, but I am willing to bestow it.
In my simple and plain narrative Of events, and
sketches of personal character, I shall make no preten-
sions to rhetorical style. I will deal with facts in a
plain way, and state them as I knew them myself to
be, or from the mouths of reliable witnesses, or pubhc
records. My object and design being to save from
oblivion an outline, if nothing more, of the men of
Plymouth a half century ago.
The town fifty years ago, and wdthin my own
recollection, was but a small village, compared with
its present dimensions — in fact it could hardly be call-
ed a village, the residences being so scattered along
what is now the great thoroughfare, that it was much
more country than town.
36 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH,
The early settlers were principally immigrants from
New England. They were a hardy, robust class of
adventurers, who came to the western frontier to es-
tablish their new homes and erect their religious
altars. Firm men, men of decision of character, and
who were fully impressed with the conviction that
their success depended solely upon their industrious
habits ; without means, their strong hands and reso-
lute hearts were their whole stock in trade, and in
many cases, their trusty rifle the chief value of their
personal effects. Had they not possessed these quali-
ties they would never have incuiTed the hazard, and
toil, and exposure, incident to the wilderness they
came to occupy. For the land was not only to be
subdued, but the savages were to be expelled. The
young adventurer, therefore, thus reasoning at his New
England fireside, must needs have had courage as well
as indomitable perseverance, or he could never have
gathered up sufficient resolution to embark upon his
perilous enterprise.
In' true Puritan style, and emblematic of their
ancestral line, they brought with them the name
of their new colony. It was an off-shoot of the
"Kock of Plymouth" — hallowed by the first foot-
prints of their fathers, when they stepped from the
deck of the " May Flower," upon the shore of a New
World.
The refugees of English intolerance had conse-
crated that rock, and the legacy came down to their
THE EARLY SETTLERS. 37
cMldren ; and more and more to be revered as time
and distance came apace.
The Puritans, under old Jolm Kobinson, their pas-
tor and leader, baptized the soil they first landed upon
in the New World with the name of Plymouth, after
the name of the last place they touched in the Old,
previous to their embarkation. Immigrants, in time,
carried the name with them to Plymouth, in Litch-
field county, Connecticut — and their children brought
it to the shores of the Susquehanna.
Our name, therefore, antedates the landing of the
Pilgrims, on the twentieth of December, 1620, upon
Plymouth Eock. Age has made it venerable, and
the stirring incidents connected with its transmission,
are subjects that we dwell upon with much satisfac-
tion — and particularly such of us as have had ances-
tors connected with these incidents.
I have now in my own custody the veritable cane
which that stern and unbending old Dissenter from
the English Church, brought with him upon the
" May Flower," in her voyage to the New World. It
has been handed down from generation to generation,
with pious and reverential care. It is a family heir-
loom, inherited by my wife from her father, the late
John W. Eobinson, Esquire, of Wilkes-Barre, who
was a descendant, in direct line, of the founder of the
English Dissenter's Church. It is a valuable relic,
and considering its age of over two hundred and fifty
years, is in a state of perfect preservation, save that
38 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
the initials, J. E., engraved upon its silver head, have
become nearly defaced ; but still enough is left of the
outline of the letters to indicate their character.
The date of the birth of our Plymouth may be
fixed on the twenty-eighth of December, 1768 — thus
making it over one hundred years of age.
On that day the Susquehanna Company held a
meeting at Hartford, Connecticut, to make prelimina-
ry arrangements for settling the Wyoming lands. It
was then resolved that five townships, each five miles
square, should be granted to two hundred settlers ;
that forty should set out immediately, and the re-
maining one hundred and sixty in the following spring.
The five townships thus decreed to be laid out were
named, Plymouth, Kingston, Hanover, Wiikes-Barre,
and Pittstou. The names of them all were not then
assigned, but Plymouth was one of them that was
then designated. SeePearce's "Annals of Luzerne,"
p. 63.
Immediately after this meeting of the Susquehan-
na Company, immigration commenced ; and before
the close of the year 1769, the whole of the two hun-
dred had arrived in the valley. Some of them settled
at once in Plymouth upon their arrival ; but I am un-
able to ascertain if the whole party, the quota assigned
for Plymouth, settled there in that and the previous
year. It appears, however, that the Eev. Noah Wad-
hams, the great grandfather of the present gentle-
men of that name, now resident there, was preach-
THE CONNECTICUT CHARTER. 39
ing the gospel there in 1772, but three years after-
wards.
Ph^mouth is one of those noted seventeen town-
ships in this part of Pennsylva^nia, the territory of
which was vested in the Susquehanna Company, and
known under the name of the " Connecticut Charter."
The grant was made on the twentieth of April, 1662,
to the Connecticut Colony, by Charles II., in which
that monarch recognizes the gi'ant as the same which
had been previously made by King James I. in 1620,
to the " Plymouth Company." So that we find this
name cotemporaneous with the first landing.
The charter for the tract of land named was of
peculiar dimensions. It ceded to the company the
land between two parallel lines of latitude, in width
from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean.
The geography of the country at that early day
was very imperfectly understood. North America
was supposed to be a narrow peninsula. When the
extremes of the new continent were measured, and
the area ascertained, it showed that the boundaries
of King Charles' grant to the colony were sixty-
nine miles in width, and some four thousand in
length !
Within the limits of tliis grant, and under this
title, Piyiaouth was settled. The length of the Con-
necticut Charter in yea,rs gone by was a by- word; and
in old times, when the matter was better understood,
and was often the subject of conversation, a person
40 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
who told a long stoiy was said to have made it as
long as the Connecticut Charter, The application of
the phrase now would be little understood; but forty
years ago, everybody within the Wyoming valley had
some knowledge about the length of that ever-memo-
rable charter.
The occupation and settlement of the '"' Susque-
hanna Country/' as the territory in earlier days was
called, were prevented by the hostilities among the
Indian tribes, growing out of the French and EngUsh
war. On the twenty-eighth of December, 1768, as I
have already stated, the Susquehanna Company made
the first formidable movement towards the occupation
of the land claimed under their charter. The reason,
probably, of the action of this company at that time,
was produced by the settlement of long-standing
troubles between the British Government and the Six
Nations of Indians, in a treaty at Fort Stanwix, con-
cluded in that year.
This opened the door for immigration, and the
company immediately availed themselves of the op-
portunity. Plymouth was considered as one of the
most desirable of the seventeen Yankee towns, on ac-
count of the broad sweep of remarkably fertile land
which skirted its south-eastern border. It embraced
an area of from two to three thousand acres, made up
of alluvion, and was without the natural obstructions
of forest trees ; so that it invited the plough-share of
the hardy pioneer, without that preceding toil and
THE SHAWNEES. 41
labor necessary to prepare ground for cultivation, cov-
ered with trees and herbage.
The Shawnee flats were a little oo.sis in the wilder-
ness, ready prepared for cultivation, and was an ex-
ceedingly inviting spot to the young New Englander,
compared with the rough and stony fields he left be-
hind him.
CHAPTEE 11.
THE SHAWNEE TRIBE OF INDIANS, AND THE FIRST
WHITE MAN. GRASSHOPPER BATTLE.
THE Shawnee tribe of Indians occupied Plymouth
in 1742, when first visited by the white man.
The tribe was not numerous. As early as 1608 they
had, in league with the Hurons, been engaged in war
on the Canadian frontier "v\-ith the Iroquois, the con-
federate tribes known as the Six Nations, and defeated,
were obliged to leave their hunting-grounds. They
wandered south as far as Florida. Their numbers had
become decimated, and they were by no means a
tribe, considered by their race, as formidable upon the
w^ar-path. Becoming there engaged in a war with the
Spaniards, who then owned that territory, they mi-
grated west in 1690 to the Wabash; and finally in
1697, upon the Conestoga Indians, who lived near
the present city of Lancaster, in this state, becoming
42 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
security to William Penn for their good behavior,
they removed to Pequea creek, below Lancaster.
In 1701 William Penn made a treaty with the
tribes upon the Susquehanna, and a portion of the
Shawnee tribe located within the present limits of
Plymouth, under the order and direction of the Six
Nations, whose power and authority was absolute over
all the Indian tribes of Pennsylvania, and from whom
they demanded and received annual tribute.
When, therefore, Count Zinzendorf, on his Chris-
tian mission, visited Plymouth in the autumn of 1742,
he found the Shawnees, with their chief, Kakowatchie;
and their principal wigwam situate on the west bank
of the small stream emptying into the river above the
old village, and between the main road and the river,
known in the early days of the wliite settlers as the
farm of Noah Wadhams, Esquire, and upon which he
lived and died. The Shawnee tribe at this time
probably did not number over two hundred braves and
warriors. They were subjects of the Six Nations, and
completely under their orders and control; in fact a
part of their own associates and tribe who had occu-
pied this very ground, were obliged to surrender for
the benefit of the fresh immigration from the Dela-
ware, and make a new home upon the Ohio and Alle-
gheny. Because the Shawnees had refused to fight
the English, the enemy of the Six Nations, these con-
federate tribes kept the poor Shawnees almost con-
stantly in motion; and whenever they came within
THE INDIAN TRIBES. 43
the confederate juvisdiction, they seem to have been
dealt with without regard to mercy.
This tribe, however, occupied the present territory
of Plymouth at the time of the first imprint of the
foot of the white man. It has thus become a proper
subject for us to inquire about. There are not enough
of them left now to kindle a respectable council lire.
The scattering remnant is merged in the names of
more numerous and powerful western tribes — and even
these in a very, very few years will have disappeared
also.
A hundred years ago the decree of the Iroquois,
or the Six Nations, was clothed with the elements of
power. The messenger who went forth with it was
regarded with as much consideration and respect,
through the vast country watered by the Susquehanna
and its tributaries, as the ambassador, sent out at this
day, by any crowned head in Europe to the subjects of
his colonies, is treated by them.
But the Avheels of progress, or destiny, if the word
better defines the idea, have crushed out the rule and
sway of the haughty braves and warriors Avho gave
tone and character to the name of these confederate
tribes. Their wigwams have disappeared; their hunt-
ing-grounds have put on the garbs of civilization, in
the shape of towns and hamlets, and cultivated fields.
All this may be right. Grod, in the wisdom of His
providence, did not create the red man in vain. The
laws of concxuest have an indefinable meaning when we
44 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
come to square tliem Ly the Christian impulses of the
human heart.
The red man, in this hind,
" Was native to the manor born."
Owner, not by discovery, nor that more imperfect title,
by conqnest, we have no reason to question the theory
but that here he was originally created, and this was
his proper as well as legal home. How far we may
assert the uncharitable, but too often inexorable plea
of necessity as a palliation, may be a question of
doubt as to his removal and extermination. CiAdliza-
tion has done this, but is that an element of civiliza-
tion? Statesmen and philosophers may well pause
for reflection. It is a knotty problem for solution to
determine whether might is right. And when the
idea is brought home to us, in robbing us, by force,
of that wliieh has cost us a life-time of industry to
acquire, we would hardly reconcile our belief to the
argument of its legal necessity. I apprehend there is
not one of us who would not exclaim against the act
as one of oppression and the rankest tyranny.
It is a law of brute force, and not of morality,
which sanctions the doctrine of the submission of the
weak to the strong. Ages have sanctioned the creed,
but does this long usage confirm it as right ?
It is said that necessity knows no law. And under
this title, the broad acres of the American Continent
are now held and occupied.
INDIAN RIGHTS AND WRONGS. 45
If the poor Indian were created for the purpose of
a temporary occupatioi^ of this country, to be succeed-
ed by a higher and more intellectual race, then we
may reconcile our ideas to his oppressions and wrongs.
But who is endowed with the power of comprehension
and knowledge to solve this question ? " Man is lit-
tle lower than the angels," but not high enough in
mental stature to grasp this subject, and decide it in
conformity with correct principles.
When Alexander the Great was told by the petty
thief whom he was about to punish, that he only de-
spoiled individuals of their property, but that the
great conqueror robbed and subjected whole countries,
it furnished him a new theme for consideration. He
discovered in his criminal a mirror that reflected two
thieves, one guilty of petty, the other of grand larceny 1
And while we profess to be governed by the best
and purest principles of moral ethics, we must not
conclude that, because our fathers did wrong in the
acquisition of property in which we had no partic-
ipation, we are therefore entirely absolved from all
the blame ; for we are in the full enjoyment of
the fruits. In tracing back, the title of our home-
stead, it all goes along smoothly enough tiU we
come to that missing link between the ivMte and red
proprietor ! If we are keenly sensible at this point,
and governed by the true maxims of humanity, we
shall begin to conclude " that the partaker is as bad
as the thief."
46 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
But tken "we have the soothing consolation that
we all stand on precisely the same platform ; that we
are not 'only on the side of the majority, as to any
question of blame in usurping the whole territory of
the country from its original owners ; but that there
is not one dissenting voice ! This is a very comfort-
able view of the subject. The voice of the entire na-
tion cannot be at fault. It is unanimous, therefore
it must be right.
This argument before an intelligent judge might
be called sophistry ; but then we are relieved from all
this trouble, for we are the judges in our own case,
and as we conclude so stands the final decision.
But let us return to old Plymouth, and talk about
facts, instead of discussing general theories. It is
these we must deal with, and let others, if they will,
pursue the line of thought I dropped into some dozen
paragraphs or so back.
Having given a short sketch of the Shawnee tribe,
the people who were in possession before the occupa-
tion by a superior race, let us inquire whose was the
first wliite foot, that made its imprint upon Shawnee
soil ?
This is an inquiry involved in some doubt, but
with the traditional evidence we have, connected with
the researches upon the subject by Isaac A. Chap-
man, Charles Miner, and Stewart Pearce, who have all
written, and written well, upon the antiquities of the
Wyoming Valley, it is to be fairly presumed that
THE FIRST WHITE MAN. 47
Conrad Weiser was tlie first white man that visited the
Wyoming Valley ; "but as to his being the first white
man who visited Plymouth, is a question that anti-
quarians will have to settle between him and Count
Nicholas Louis Zinzendorf, As to the time of the ap-
pearance of the latter we have correct dates, and there
is no room for doubt.
Our local historians agree that Conrad Weiser
was " an upright and worthy man." He had resided
with the Mohawk Indians from 1716 to 1729, and
spoke the language of several tribes. He had made
repeated journeys among the Indians north and
west : he frequently acted as interpreter, and was
often the agent of several of the tribes in their treat-
ies and negotiations, — and Mr. Pearce, whom I regard
a very good authority in our early history, concludes
that there is no doubt or question but that " he was
the first white man who ever trod the soil of Luzerne
county."
While this may be the fact, it does not follow
that he was the first white man who trod the soil of
Plymouth.
We shall see that he was with Zinzendorf in Ply-
mouth in the autumn of 1742, but he did not join
the Count for several days after he had been in Ply-
mouth, laboring with the Shawnees on his Christian
mission.
As to the time this missionary visited Plymouth
there seems to be no doubt ; and the probability is
3
48 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
that lie was the fii'st white man who put his foot
upon Plymouth soil, as we do not learn that Mr.
Weiser passed up or down the Susquehanna, on any
of the journeys which he performed in liis Indian
service.
Count Nicholas Louis Zinzendorf, a German of
means, a man of great piety, and a leading elder of
the Moravian church, came to Bethlehem, Pa., in the
year 1741. This town at that time was the principal
location of the Moravian brotherhood. During the
following year he made up his mind to advance to
the Susquehanna, and visit the Indian tribes who
lived there. For tliis purpose he applied to Mr.
Weiser, whose reputation was well knoAvn as friendly
with the Indians, and also understanding the lan-
guage, to accompany him. His engagements did not
immediately permit him ; and the Count, in com-
pany with John Martin Mack and his wife, set out
on their journey in the fall of 1742, and arrived safely
on the lands of the Shawnee tribe. And until very
recently, when a diary of Mr. Mack turned up,
it was supposed that they crossed the mountain by
the Warrior Eun war-path, from Fort Allen, on the
Lehigh, to the Susquehanna, in Hanover townshijD.
It is now well understood that this was not the
road they passed over, in their approach to the Sus-
quehanna. Mr. Pearce has placed in my hands an
extract from the diary of John Martin Mack, obtain-
ed recently by him from the Moravian Society, at
COUNT ZINZENDORF. 49
BetUeliem, whicli gives a general account of the jour-
ney of the Count to the Wyoming Valley ; Ply-
mouth being the first place where they stopped.
I give the substance of this diary. Zinzendorf
went from Bethlehem to Shamolduj Northumberland
county ; and from thence he went up to the mouth
of Loyal Sock creek, now known as Montoursville.
The name of the Indian town was Otstenwacken,
now in the county of Lycoming. To this place he
was accompanied by Mr. Mack and his wife. At this
place he preached to the Indians in French. He was
entertained by " Madam Montour," a French Canadi-
an woman, who had married Andrew Montour, a half-
blood. This woman had great influence at the In-
dian council-fire. She possessed much shrewdness,
and her manners and kind acts made a good impres-
sion on the wild men of the forest. From this point,
according to the diary, Zinzendorf, in company with
Mack and his wife, Andrew Montour, son of the
" Madam," as she was styled, with four others whose
names are not given, Indians probably, set out upon
horseback, by the way of the war-path, to Wyoming
Valley, on the head waters of Fishing, Muncy, and
Huntington creeks. On the fifth day they reached
the Shawnee village, in the plains of " Skehando wan-
na " (Susquehanna), where they halted at a wigwam
of the Shawnee tribe on the banks of a creek, near
an Indian burial-ground, and li'ected their tent.
Mack says that the red warriors gathered around
50 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
them and brandished their knives in a threatening
and menacing way.
The distance they had made from the mouth of
Loyal Sock creek he puts down at seventy miles,
which is very correctly stated. He speaks of being
opposed by wild beasts, swollen streams of water, and
dense thickets ; and that it was five days of hard
labor to accomplish the journey.
He states that they remained with the Shawnees
ten days. Zinzendorf shared what little provisions
he had with the Indians — gave them the buttons off
his shirt, and his silver knee-buckles, and lived prin-
cipally upon boiled beans during his sojourn with
them. He preached to the Shawnees through his in-
terpreter ; told them that the object of his visit was
peace, and to instruct them for the good of their
souls in the spirit land. To all this they listened,
but were incredulous. They could not be persuaded
but that there was some other motive concealed, which
looked to some serious injury to their tribe. And a
secret plan was laid for his assassination.
On one of the evenings of the old man's visit,
some of the Shawnees approached the tent for the
purpose of murdering him, but as they pulled aside
the blanket which covered the opening of his tent,
they saw at that moment an adder pass over his legs,
unnoticed by the holy man, who was deeply involved
in his religious th^ghts.
The savage warriors construed this as a direct
COUNT ZINZENDOEF. 51
intervention of the Great Spirit, and they with-
drew, unbending their bows, and sheathing their
knives.
The accounts heretofore given of this incident by
the local historians, represent the serpent to have
been a rattle-snake — nor do any of them give the
exact locality.
The diary continues to enumerate several other
, incidents which, at this remote time, are of exceeding
interest. Zinzendorf visited the Mohican village,
supposed to have been located at Forty-fort, in the
township of Kingston. He preached to the Indians
there, and met among them an Indian woman who
professed Christianity.
He travelled from one village to another, engaged
in his religious instructions, and was joined, after
several days in the valley, by Conrad Weiser, and
also by three Moravian missionaries, who left Bethle-
hem on the fifteenth of October. From this date we
may infer that Zinzendorf first reached the Shawnee
village in the latter part of September. We are not
informed by Mr. Mack, the precise length of time the
party remained in the valley. Mr. Chapman, how-
ever, fixes it at twenty days. He is probably correct,
as in a note in his book, p. 22, he speaks of obtaining
his information from a companion of Zinzendorf, who
afterwards visited Wyoming.^
We are informed from the diary that the names
of the three Moravian missionaries who joined the
52 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Count were, David Kitscliman, Anton Seyffert, and
Jacob Kohnn.
Mr. Mack says that on leaving tlie Shawnee vil-
lage, near the burial ground (the Noah Wadhams
farm), in crossing the creek, which was swollen by-
recent raius, the horse of Zinzendorf stumbled, and
threw his rider into the stream; and that he was res-
cued by the party from his perilous situation.
The Indians standing upon the bank saw the ac-
cident, and in their opinion, here was another mirac-
ulous interposition of Manitou. They again express-
ed themselves as fully satisfied, that the man who had
escaped the flood and the venomous reptile must be
under the protection of the Great Spirit.
And this is the substance of a journal, written
down at the time of tlie occurrence of the matters
contained in it, a hundred and thirty years ago.
It throws new light upon a subject that the local
historian did not possess, founded upon an authority
that may be considered as authentic.
John Martin Mack, who was also a Mora\dan
missionary, informs us that he was born in Wurtem-
burg, Germany, on the twelfth of April, 1715 ; that
some time after arriving in this country, he married
Jeannette, a daughter of a Mohawk chief. She
spoke that language, as well as that of the Delaware
and Shawnee tribes. "*
This knowledge of the Indian tongue of the
Shawnee tribe accounts for the presence of Jeannette,
THE FIEST MISSIONARIES. 53
in the missionary expedition of Zinzendorf, amidst
the perils of his visit to the Susquehanna. She
spoke the language of the people who occupied the
soil of old Plymouth, before our fathers took posses-
sion of that part of the " Skehandowanna plains/'
now known as the Shawnee flats. It was probably
her lips which were the organ of interpretation of the
words of the reverend old man, to the stoical and
haughty audience that surrounded him. But the
language, as well as the tongues and Kps of the wild
roaming people who gave it articulation, are now
alike silent, and will so remain forever.
It would be an interesting fact to know what
finally became of this man who was jotting down
history over a century ago in old Plymouth, and of
Jeannette, his Indian bride, whose voice uttered to
the wild warriors of the Shawnee tribe the doctrines
of peace and good will. But of their subsequent ca-
reer we have no record. Zinzendorf returned agam
to his native land, and died at a ripe old age.
He did not probably live long enough to realize
the fact, that to civilize and Christianize the North
American red man, was a work not to be accom-
pHshed. And probably it is well that it is so ; but
in either case, it is a question beyond our comprehen-
sion, at least.
From the testimony I have thus refeiTed to, and
which to my mind is conclusive, I think there can
be no doubt but that the first white feet that trod
54 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
tlie soil of 6ur towiisliip, were those of Nicliolas Louis
Zinzeiulorf and John Martin Mack ; and also that
the&e were the first heralds there of the doctrines of
the Cross, as well as in the other parts of the valley
of the Susquehanna, That the first sermon upon the
subject of man's redemption, through the mediation
of Christ, was preached near the Shawnee burial-
ground, within the limits of the township of Ply-
mouth.
We are thus enabled to locate the very spot where
these things occurred. And what a study for the art-
ist is here presented ? It is to be hoped that some
son of Plymouth may yet arise, who shall have the
qualifications to place upon canvas, in its true light,
the aged missionary and his Indian woman inter-
preter, his humble tent and his swarthy, sun-burned
audience. It is a subject worthy the pencil of the
cleverest painter.
The old Indian burial-ground is a spot that was
familiar to the early settlers of Plymouth. Its loca-
tion is near the bank of the little stream I have de-
scribed, and between the railroad and the main thor-
ouglifare. I have myself, fifty years since, seen the
Indian bones turned up by the plough-share, lying in
heaps upon the pubhc highway, where they had been
cast, taken from the identical place referred to in the
journal from which I have quoted. And more than
this, for acting under the impulse of revenge, im-
pressed upon my mind in Hsteniug to the deeds of
MISSIONARY GROUND. 55
hoiTor produced by the tomahawk and scalping-knife,
related by the men who had been eye-witnesses of
them, I have pounded and pulverized these relics of
the departed warriors, and stamped upon, them, as if
the cruelties their owners had perpetrated could thus
be avenged; and my fellow boyish associates and my-
self have consoled ourselves with the reflection, after
an exhibition of this valiant conduct, that if we had
not killed an " Ingen," we at least had the profound
satisfaction of having had a glorious knock at his
dry bones !
What a pity that the " Christian Church " edi-
fice, standing on the opposite side of the way from
the site once occupied by Zinzendorf 's tent, should
not have been located upon it. It is ground conse-
crated by the acts and deeds of the first man, upon
the Susquehanna, who proclaimed "glad tidings of
great joy." Though the seeds of faith fell upon sav-
age ears, the noble and self-reliant example of the
man is a living model for Christian imitation.
It is agreeable for us, at this remote day, that we
are enabled to ascertain definitely the precise locaHty.
And we know it — the exact place where the pilgrim
missionaries of our religious faith pitched their tent,
at the end of their five days' journey in the wilder-
ness; and where their venerable, pious old leader,
gave the Indian chiefs of the Shawnee tribe "the
buttons from off his shirt, and the silver buckles from
his knees," as a peace-offering in the name of the
56 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLTMOUTH.
Lord, amidst the gleams and flashes of tlieir brand-
ished scalping-knives, and in the heai-ing of their
piercing war-whoops.
Mr. Chapniau, in his liistory, p. 24, is under the
impression that most of the Shawnees had k^ft Ply-
month before the advance of the white man in 1769 ;
and that at this period the Delawares, who resided
on the east side of the Susquehanna, and nearly op-
posite, had become proprietors of the Shawnee plains;
and the eracnation of the Sliawnees is based upon
the consequence of their defeat by the Delawares in
the memorable Grasshopper battle.
The circumstances which led to this battle, I will
briefly relate. A number of the Delaware squaws,
with then- cliildren, were gathering wild fruits along
the eastern bank of the river, some two miles below
their village, which stood on the lower side of the
present limits of the city of Wilkes-BaiT^, where they
met with some squaws and their children of the Shaw-
nee tribe, who had crossed the river in their canoes
for the same purpose.
A child belonging to the Shawnees had taken a
large grasshopper, and a quarrel arose among the
children for the possession of it, in wliich their moth-
er soon took part. The Pehiwai-e women contending
that the east side of the river was tlieir property,
persisted in their right to the grasshopper, and the
feminine conflict terminated in the expulsion of the
Shawnee squaws over to the west side. And it is
GRASSHOPPER BATTLE. 57'
asserted, tliougli I apprehend upon very questionable
authority, that some of these women were killed in
this engagement.
The expulsion of the Shawnee women irritated
and maddened their husbands, and the consequence
was a declaration of war on the part of the Shawnees-
against the Delawares. The Shawnees embarked in
their canoes, but were met by the Delawares before
they could obtain a foothold upon the east bank of
the river ; but still they were able to effect a landing,
and a bloody conflict ensued at the great bend of the
river, immediately above the present railroad bridge.
It is said that nearly half of the Shawnees fell upon
the battle-field. They were certainly driven back to
their own side of the stream.
As this event took place some thirty years only
before the advent of the white settlers, and as the
tradition of the battle was then fresh in the memory,
and probably pretty well understood by them, it is a
little remarkable that they should not have given us
the facts of the expulsion of the Shawnees by the
Delawares.
The early settlers always spoke of the Indians
which they found upon their entry into Plymouth as
of the Shawnee tribe. I have heard this often from
the lips of Colonel Kansom, Jonah Kogers, and Abra-
ham Pike. The statements of these men were cer-
tainly to be rehed upon, and they had the means of
knowledge upon the subject.
OS IllSTOIUCAL SKETOHKS OV riAMOUTH.
It. is a niattor of much doiil>t ^Yllotl\er the Grass-
hoppor bat tlo was a very serious atVair. The Shaw-
no('s and l\^la\varos woro i;iMiorally on very friendly
tonus, aud from the uiost reliable authority I can
tiud, the greatest uiuuber of these two tribes removed
to Pialiopi (Tiopi) some ten yeai"s previous to the
advauet^ o\' th^^ white niau.
I eouelude, therefore, tluit the Indians who made
the greatest ineursions upon the early settlers of Ply-
mouth, were a remnant of the iSliawnees, who were
lingering about their old hnnting-gronnds upon the
Shawnee mountain. This is by tar the most proba-
ble oonolusion.
If, as ]Mr. Chapman writes, the Shawnees were
expelled by the Pela wares after the Cirasshopper
battle, it seems strange that ten years after the two
tribes should have been travelling together to Dia-
hogi\, the spot designated for them by the order of
their mastei-s. the iSix Nations.
A further distinetion is drawn by some of our his-
torians, that the Shawnei^s were a more bloodthii-sty
tril>e than the other tribes upon the Susquehanna —
the Nantioe>kes. the Pelawares. and the Mohieans :
that it was an impelling ivason whieh moved Zinzeu-
dorf to make the Shawnees, for this eause, the tirst
objects of Ohristianization. The pivlv^bility is that
the ohai^acter aud temperament of this tribe wexe not
\*erv ditVeivnt from other triWs. The same feelinsr
of blvvdy ivvengv for ival or supposed injuries, is an
THE FIIUST SETTLERS. 59
element in common with th(3 whole race ; and, as a
Shawnee man, I feel inclined to stand by our tribe,
and deny this unjust calumny, which is attempted to
be heaped upon their memory.
Though not precisely of the same houseliold, still
my young feet trod their paths, and my young eyes
witnessed their bones and fortifications; and there-
fore it would be unmanly, while writing their history,
not at the same time to defend their memory against
an accusation that "the Shawnee tribe of Indians
was the most bloody and revengeful tribe that ever
placed foot upon the Skehando wanna plains ! "
Having thus disposed of the Shawnee tribe, and
the question as to the first white man who visited
Plymouth, I will turn my attention to other subjects
involved in its first settlement.
CHArTEE III.
THE F I K B T B E T T L E R 8 .
MOST of the early settlers of the town were men
of strong minds: a few of them were eccentric
characters, and now and then, one addicted to habits
of intemperance ; but they were all industrious, and
not one of them, as I ever learned, espoused the Tory-
side of the great question of their day and generation.
CO nll^!Touu^\^ skktohes of tlymouth.
Thoy wore selt-n>liaut, and tliis was an imperative
noeessity, siirroutuloil as they Avere by eranipod ineaiis
oi' subsisteiiee, and daily exposure to Indians and
tlveir l\Mman>i(o eiuMuic^s.
Thoy \V(M-o loyal to their Govonnuont, and niauy
oi' tliotu were in the revolutionary war, and some of
them served the whole seven years in that protracted
issue. As a whole, they were a brave, patriotic, and
industrious people, but little acquainted with luxu-
ries, and none more tamiliar with the severe conliicts
of frontier lite.
Their hostility io the Indian race was bitter and
vindictive. This had arisen from the fact that some of
their little society had undergone savage torture and
murder ; others more fortunate were taken into captiv-
ity. One of them, Elisha Harvey, had been sold to
an Indian trader, in Canada, for half a barrel of rum.
Even in my day, which did not conuuence for the
period oi' over twenty years after the cessation of the
valley troubles, Colonel Ransom, Abraham Nesbitt,
Jonah Ivogers, or Abraham Pike Avould have shot
down an Indian, if they had met with him, as unhes-
itatingly as they would a prowling wolt'or panther.
Time did not seem to elBice and wear away this
embittered feeling. The common subject of conver-
sation, within my own recollection, among these old
veterans when they met, was Indian ati-ocities com-
mitted upon themselves, their lamilies, and friends.
The youth of the town therefore grew up under a
TIIK KAJlI.y HKTTLKMl. 61
deop Bcnfio of thcHe wrongH. Tlioy fully parti cipatod
in tho (}rnf)tioriH produced by tlio constant rcilujarrsal
of fudiari (jutolKjrioH. Tho Honiiroont waH univorHal.
J(, waH i>lio al)HOj|>in^' iopio in iho Wald, IIk; iriochan-
ic'M Hhop, the Hchool house, and the jmlpit, year in
and year out. Probably in no other part of the
county did this feelinj^ of Indian hoKtility cxiHt,to the
«ame degree and extent an in Plymouth.
The old frame Academy, now standinj^, — and it is
to 1)0 hoped may be yjcrmittod to remain, aw one of
the few land-rnarkH of the pant — wan built not far
from th(} year J.SI.G. Jonah Itoj^-erH kept school in it.
He had been taken a prisoner, when a })oy of iour-
teen, by the Indians. The bloody sc(!ne which at-
tended his escape, will be fully noticed }i(in;afi(;r.
The old j^entleman was in tli/; habit oi' njpeatinj^,
almost daily, in open school, his knowledge of Indian
tragedies.
He would speak of the number of reeking scalps
lie had seen strung upon a cord, and dangling from
the belt of the red warrior, as a trophy of his prow-
ess ; some of them taken from the heads of his own
personal friends ; how the savag(;s were in the habit
of stripping their victims, binding them with thongs
to a tree, piercing their naked bodies with sharpened
pine knots, and then setting them on tire ; and how
the poor creatures would writhe in torture, and die
the most agonizing of deaths ; how they had inhu-
manly murdered such a man that he knew, pointing
62 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
to the exact place where it was done, and naming the
exact time ; of their stealthy habits of lying in am-
bush and springing like tigers upon their prey ; how he
could detect them by the smell of their smoked and
painted bodies, before they were visible to the eye ;
and how it would be serving G-od to remove and ex-
terminate the entire race.
These were some of the lessons we learned in the
old man's school, and in a building still standing in
our town. They were a part of the education of the
youth, fifty years ago in the township of Plymouth.
The old man was kind and indulgent, and it was
not unfrequently that he would resort to these re-
hearsals as a means of quieting the unruly element of
his school ; and it worked like a charm, for when he
commenced all eyes were fastened upon him, and all
ears ajar ; nor did their interest in any manner abate
from their frequent repetition. An Indian story
would produce instantaneous order.
The effect of these relations upon the mind of
childi'en was wonderful ; and the moment we were
dismissed, how we would collect in groups, and doub-
ling up our little fists, "wish that we were big men,
that we could avenge the wrongs that we had heard ;
and that if we had been big men when these cruel-
ties were perpetrated, the bloody 'Ingens' would
have stood but a poor chance for their hves."
And so the children of Jonah Eogers' school rea-
soned and talked a half centmy ago.
THE EARLY SETTLERS. 63
I repeat these tilings now, after the long lapse of
time, to illustrate tlie state of popular feeling which
then existed in our town, towards the poor Indian,
and the feelings of the men who occupied his corn-
fields, his hunting-grounds, and the spots whereon he
had pitched his wigwams.
We grew into manhood, perfect Indian haters.
And to accomplish this was the great lesson of the
school.
The early settlers, no doubt, had cause to curse
the Indian tribes ; but if they had paused in their
vehement and rapid conclusions long enough to in-
quire whether they were not really in the wrong
themselves, in driving them from their homes and
firesides, they might have made at least some allow-
ance for their atrocities, acting as they did on the de-
fensive ! They did not, however, stop to draw the
line between civilized and savage life. They seemed
to think that brutality was no more to be tolerated in
an Indian, than in a civilized white man.
Time, however, has somewhat changed public
opinion. As the old people of Plymouth, who were
the actors in the wild scenes of border life, have
passed away, one after another, the chapter of their
sufferings has become more and more indistinct ;
their exposures and privations less talked of by their
children ; and the third generation, now in occupa-
tion of the homes of their ancestors, seldom, if ever,
allude to or mention the trials and incidents of early
4 ^
64 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
days. In fact most of them have lost even the tra-
ditionary chain of these stirring events. And to re-
mind them of these events, is why I am now writing,
at an advanced age myself, that they may not be
entirely obliterated and lost. The name of Ply-
mouth is dear to me, because it is linked with recol-
lections of the happiest days of my life ; and I like to
dwell u]3on the memory of the brave and generous
people whose hairs were gray, at the remote period
of which I write.
Plain and simple in their habits, they had no idea
of procuring their bread but " by the sweat of their
brow." They lived by hard and continuous labor,
and at a time when labor was not only respectable,
but dignified and inviting. Alas, the change ; but
this is not the subject of our inquiry.
I have stated that the white settlement of the
town commenced in 1768, and immediately succeed-
ing the treaty at Fort Stanwix. I am unable, how-
ever, to ascertain how many immigrants came in that
and the following year. Forty were assigned to Ply-
mouth : most of that number probably arrived. The
best evidence, in the absence of family traditional
knowledge, is an enrollment of the resident inhabit-
ants of the whole valley, in 1773, made by Colonel
Zebulon Butler, and in his handwi-iting. This list
comprises the names of two hundred and sixteen set-
tlers. By this list, I am enabled to state with cer-
tainty that in that year, and which was not more
THE EARLY SETTLERS. 65
than three or four years after the first immigration,
the following named persons were residents of Ply-
mouth, viz. : Noah Allen, David Whittlesey, Na-
thaniel Watson, Samuel Marvin, Jabez Koberts,
John Baker, Nicholas Manvil, Joseph Gaylord, Isaac
Bennet, William Leonard, Jesse Leonard, Nathaniel'
Goss, Stephen Fuller, Samuel Sweet, John Shaw,
Joseph Morse, Daniel Brown, Comfort Goss, James
Nesbitt, Aaron Dean, Peter Ayres, Captain Prince
Alden, Naniad Coleman, Abel Pierce, Timothy
Pierce and Timothy Hopkins.
I am a httle surprised that this list does not con-
tain the names of Noah Wadhams, Silas, Elisha, and
Benjamin Harvey, Samuel Ransom, James Bidlack,
Benedict Satterlee, Caleb Atherton, David Reynolds
and Henry Barney. There is an old deed among the
valley archives of " Samuel Love of Connecticut to
Samuel Ransom, late of Norfolk, Connecticut, now
being at Susquehanna, " which bears date November
fifth, 1773. This is probably for the Plymouth
Homestead farm.
Among the same papers is a deed, dated Ply-
mouth, September twenty-ninth, 1773, of Henry
Barney to Benedict Satterlee. I think most if not
all of these men, were in Plymouth previous to the
general enrollment of all the settlers of the valley, in
1773, and it is pretty certain that the Reverend Noah
Wadhams preached in Plymouth before this period.
But the persons whom I have last named, if not
66 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
in Plymoutli in 1773, came immediately afterwards.
The persons whose names I have last mentioned were
pioneer settlers.
From this period up to the time that Captain
Samuel Ransom enlisted what was known as the Sec-
ond Independent Company, for the Revolutionary
service, January first, 1777, there is no list preserved
of tlie early settlers of Plymouth. This was four
years after the general enrollment..
On this list I find the names of Mason F. Alden,
Charles Gaylord, Ambrose Gaylord, Aziba Williams,
Asahel Nash, Ebenezer Roberts, Isaac Benjamin,
Benjamin Clark, Gordon Church, Price Cooper, Na-
than Church, Daniel Franklin, Ira Sawyer, John
Swift, and Thomas Williams, who are not named in
the foregoing list, and all of whom, I suppose, to have
been Plymouth settlers.
On the list of Captain Durkee's company. First
Independent Revolutionary Service, are the names of
Jeremiah Coleman, Jesse Coleman, Benjamin Har-
vey, and Seth Marvin. These were Plymouth men.
From this it would appear that in 1777, the num-
ber of men able to bear arms in Plymouth was not
far from eighty. There were other persons of com'se
whose names are not included in either of the above
lists. There were the Nesbitts, Rogers, Drakes,
George P., William and Samuel Ransom, the Bar-
neys, Baldwins, Bennetts, etc. It may be that the
number all told exceeded eighty.
THE EARLY SETTLERS. 67
There is no further record evidence of the pop-
ulation of the town till 1796. The commissioners'
office of this county contains the Plymouth assess-
ment of that year. And it is the first trace of the
assessor on file in the county archives, notwithstand-
ing Luzerne had been set off from the county of
Northumberland on the twenty-fifth of September,
1786.
As this was after the close of the Kevolutionary
war, and there was comparative quiet in tlie valley,
it is difficult to understand why there should not be
on file, somewhere, a list of taxable inhabitants.
The same deficiency in the office at Wilkes-Barre,
applies to the other townships of the county.
The assessment list of 1796 shows but ninety-five
taxables. But it is not strange by any means that
the increase of population advanced so slowly. The
Indian troubles had made their mark ; the Penna-
mite war had carried off several ; and the Kevolution-
ary war had made sad havoc upon the settlement.
All these were fearful obstacles in the way of the in-
crease of population.
If in 1796 we estimate four, in addition to each
taxable inhabitant, the whole population of the
township, including the territory of Jackson, set off
into a municipal jurisdiction in 1844, would be but
four hundred and seventy-five souls.
These very facts, which impeded the increase of
population, tell us but too plainly of the formidable,
CS IIISTOmOAL SKETCHES OP PLYMOUTH.
and Avo may add learrul obstructions Avliicli were in
tho path ot" our piouoor fathers.
riyinouth was never backward in filling its quota
of men for the general cause, or raishig men for pro-
tection against an internal i'oc. From the time they
tirst put their toot upon the Shawnee plains, down to
the passage of the act coufirming their title, a period
of nearly thirty years, they knew hut little of peace
and repose. For more than half of this period they
were in local hroils, Indian invasions, and the Revolu-
tionary struggle. They slept with their arms ready
at hand. The ritie was as necessary an implement of
husbandry as the sickle. They carried it with them,
ahuost constantly, to the tield of their labor during
many, many years of sutfering, hope, and fear. They
had to take turns relieving each other on guard in the
night, to ward otf the Indian and Pennamite incur-
sions. 80 that with British, Tories, Indians, and
Fenuamites, om- people had their hands full, and it is
really a matter of surprise that they should have had
the couraire and endurance to fight it out so lono- and
valiantly as they did.
The massacre at the battle of TVyoming alone cost
them the lives of not less than thirty of their citi-
zens ; the Eevolutionary war as many more ; and the
troubles with the Indians and exposure of a frontier
life, and its dangers and wants, an equal number.
And these causes probably disposed of at least one-
fom-tli of tlio people., who were in Plymouth, from
THE EARLY SETTLERS. 69
1769 to 1785. It is more probable tliat my estimate
is under than over the mark. These then were not
merely troublesome, but they were trying times.
I have heard it from the lips of the old people
frequently, that death was preferable to the constant
alarms and daily exposures that they were obliged to
undergo. But they would say, "we had johnny cake,
and shad in the spring, and eels in the fall ; and
here we had pitched our tents, and so we resolved to
face all dangers and submit to all perils."
I subjoin the assessment list of 1796. It will be
an interesting relic of the names of the men who have
now all passed away, but at that time were the
active, stirring men of the township :
Samuel Allen, Stephen Allen, David Allen, Elias
Allen, William Ayers, Daniel Ayei-s, John Anderson,
Moses Atherton, Isaac Bennet, Benjamin Bennet,
Joshua Bennet, Benjamin Barney, Daniel Barney,
Henry Barney, Walter Brown, Jesse Brown, William
Baker, Philemon Bidlack, Jared Baldwin, Jude Bald-
win, Amos Baldwin, Jonah Bigsley, Peter Chambers,
Wiliam Craig, Jeremiah Coleman, Thomas Daven-
port, Ashael Drake, Rufus Drake, Aaron Dean, Hen-
ry Decker, Joseph Dodson, Leonard Dercans, Joseph
Duncan, Jehial Fuller, Peter Grubb, Charles E. Gay-
lord, Adolph Heath, Elisha Harvey, Samuel Healy,
John Heath, Samuel Hart, Josiah Ives, Josiah Ives,
Jr., Crocker Jones, Thomas Lameraux, John Lamer-
aux, John Leonard, Joseph Lenaberger, Samuel Mar-
70 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
vin, James Marvin, Timothy Meeker, Ira Manvill,
Epliraim McCoy, Phineas Nash, Ahram Neshitt, Si-
mon Parks, Samuel Pringle, Michael Pace, David
Pace, Nathan Parrish, Oliver Plumley, Jonah Eog-
ers, Joze Eogers, Elisha Eogers, Edon Euggies, Hez-
ekiah Eoherts, Jacob Eoberts, Stephen Eoherts,
David Eeynolds, Joseph Eeynolds, George P. Ean-
som, Nathan Eumsey, Michael Scott, Lewis Sweet,
Elam Spencer, "William Stewart, Jesse Smith, Icha-
bod Shaw, Palmer Shaw, Benjamin Stookey, John
Taylor, John Turner, Abraham Tillbury, Matthias
Yan Loon, Abraham Van Loon, Nicholas Van Loon,
Calvan Wadhams, Noah Wadhams, Moses Wadhams,
Ingersol Wadhams, Amariah "Watson, Darius "Wil-
liams, Eufus Williams, and John Wallen. Ninetjr
five all told. Not one of them now living:.
CHAPTER lY.
THE PENNAMTTE AND YANKEE WAE. — COMMENCEMENT
OP TEOUBLES. — CAPTAIN STEWART. — LIEUTENANT
JENKINS. — PATTEESON'S ADMINISTRATION. — AR-
REST AND IMPRISONMENT OF SETTLERS. — BATTLE
OF NANTICOKE.
AS the forefathers of our town were almost all
of them participators in the serious troubles
and difficulties, which grew out of the contest be-
tween the Connecticut claimants, under the grant of
the Susq^uehanna Company, and the Proprietary Gov-
ernment of Pennsylvania, as to the questions of own-
ership of the land, and the civil jurisdiction over it
and the people occupying it, there will be occasion to
give a condensed statement of the subject generally,
and particularly in reference to the part taken in it
by the early settlers of Plymouth. And as this
township furnished the chief battle-ground during
the continuance of this internecine contest, where the
parties met in respectable numbers, and in which the
almost entire male population of our town took part,
it becomes a question of much interest to the de-
scendants of these people,
I have already stated that the territory of the
town lies between the two parallel lines of latitude,
which were the northern and southern boundaries of
(71)
72 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
the grant to the Susquehanna Company. Under
this grant the State of Connecticut not only claimed
the ownership of the land, but the jurisdiction over it.
To these pretensions the State of Pennsylvania,
at the commencement known as the "Proprietary
Government of Pennsylvania/' took exception. The
proprietors, William Penn and his associates, founded
their claim to the same land and jurisdiction
under a grant of King Charles II., bearing date
the fourth of March, 1681, and nineteen years
after the date of liis letters patent to the Con-
necticut Company. I have already stated that
the want of knowledge as to the geographical
situation of the country produced this blunder. It
can be called by no other name ; as there was not,
undoubtedly, on the part of the British king, a de-
sire to grant a second time any part of his territory,
in his colony, which had been previously ceded to
others.
Taking, therefore, the dates of these two letters
patent, and particularly, as in this case, the precedent
occupation by the people of Connecticut, they had
the law and equity of the case upon their side.
But unfortunately for Connecticut, the State of New
York intervened, and thus left a span of over a hun-
dred miles between the western line of the former and
the Susquehanna lauds. Had not this difficulty been
in the way, the final result would in all probability
have had a different termination.
CONFLICTING CLAIMS. 73
The grant to Connecticut bore tlie oldest date:
the people of that State made the first entry. Law-
3^er or layman, therefore, could not justly decide but
in one way, and that in favor of the people claiming
under the charter of 1662.
We thus find the Wyoming valley claimed by two
separate and distinct parties. Firstly, under corpor-
ate grants from the king ; and after the termination
of the rebellion, under two separate State sovereign-
ties. The Grovernors of these issued their paper proc-
lamations, and left the citizens of each to fight out
the dispute in a hand to hand conflict ; and at it they
went in literally bloody earnest.
The Yankees were ahead of the Pennamites in
occupation. As early as 1753, the Susquehanna
Company sent out John Jenkins, a surveyor, to make
an exploration of the valley, and feel the Indian
pulse ; and if favorable, to negotiate friendly relations
with them.
His appointment from this company directed him
" to repair to the said place " (Wyoming,) " in order
to view said tract of land, and to purchase of the na-
tives there inhabiting, their title and interest to said
tract of land, and to survey, lay out, and receive
proper deeds or conveyances of said land to and for
said company."
Under these instructions he commenced the im-
portant part of the duty assigned to him, of conclud-
ing a purchase of the Indian title ; and his mission
74 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OP PLYMOUTH.
would undoubtedly have been attended with success,
but for the interference, as we shall notice hereafter,
by the Proprietary Government of Pennsylvania;
William Penn being under the conviction, and proba-
bly honestly so, that the country of the Susquehanna
legally belonged to him, under his Koyal grant,
though of a later date.
Through the representations made to the Susque-
hanna Company by Mr. Jenkins, on his return, and
other reasons which do not become necessary here to
state, but by the sanction, however, of the colonial
authorities of both Connecticut and Pennsylvania, a
Congress of delegates was convened at Albany, in
1754, with the approbation of the Crown, to meet the
Iroquois, or the great confederated Six Nations of In-
dians, and consult together on the subject of their
mutual welfare.
At this important council, it appears that the
Proprietary Government of Pennsylvania was repre-
sented by distinguished men : John Penn, Isaac
Norris, Benjamin Franklin and Eichard Peters. And
it is a marvel why the Proprietary Government, after
the consent and approbation of the purchase of
the Wyoming lands, by the Susquehanna Company,
by such distinguished agents, should ever have made
the eflbrt to annul the solemn act of the Albany Con-
gress ! For at this very Congress, and as Mr. Miner
states, "under the eye of the Pennsylvania Delega-
tion, a treaty with the Indians, the acknowledged
CONFLICTING CLAIMS. 75
proprietors of the territory, was executed, dated July
eleventh, 1754, and a purchase of land made." See
Miner's Hist., p. 68.
A deed was executed, signed by eighteen chiefs
and sachems of the Six Nations, of the Wyoming
lands, to the Susquehanna Company. The purchase
money, " two thousand pounds current money of New
York," was counted out in silver, " and carried by the
Indians in a blanket into an orchard, and there
divided among them." It is a little singular that
the word mines is mentioned in this ancient deed.
The Connecticut charter, therefore, based on a
Eoyal grant, and a subsequent purchase of the In-
dian claim, would seem to establish an indisputable
and unqualified title. Such, however, as the bloody
sequel which follows shows, does not appear to have
been so considered by the Proprietary Government of
Pennsylvania.
In January following, the Pennsylvania authori-
ties made an appeal to Governor Johnson of New
York to use his influence with the Six Nations to nul-
lify and cancel the deed made on the eleventh of July
previous. This course was persisted in, until at a
council, at Fort Stanwix, on the fifth of November,
1768, a conveyance of the same lands was made by
the Iroquois to the Pennsylvania proprietors. At
this time then, the local strife that had smouldered
from 1754, broke out into a blazing, consuming fire.
In 1755, the Susquehanna Company again sent
76 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Mr. Jenkins with a corps of surveyors to locate lands
on tlie Susquehanna. Among these was Ezekiel
Hyde, a well known name in the valley for years suc-
ceeding. Some sm'veys were made, and the party re-
turned to Connecticut.
Some seven years elapsed before an effort was
again made to establish a settlement in the valley.
This delay was undoubtedly produced by the troubles
and difficulties growing out of the English and
French war, which terminated in 1763. The people,
however, interested in, and claiming under, the Sus-
quehanna Company, from the fact of the attempt
being made by the Pennsylvania proprietors to de-
stroy and annul the deed of the Iroquois, executed at
Albany in 1754, came to the conclusion that their
occupation must necessarily be one of conquest.
The Indian atmosphere was murky; dark clouds
hung over the beautiful valley and the noble river
meandering through as fertile soil as the husbandman
ever cultivated, — as delightful a spot as ever the eye
of red or white man looked upon. There was a prize
worth a noble effort. The Yankee was fully per-
suaded as to the equity of his claim and the legality
of his title, and why should he hesitate ? It is true
the Indian hand lay upon it, but he held against the
solemn obligations of a treaty, and be-side this it was
weak. A powerful competitor had crossed the " big
water in his big canoe," and he was strong.
There was but one avenue now open to occupa-
CONFLICTING CLAIMS. 77
tion, and that was conquest. The treaty had been
violated; the deed of purchase had been annulled.
The man who had been reared amid New England
rocks and upon her sterile soil, had manly develop-
ment; he could endure hunger and fatigue; he pos-
sessed ambition and courage; these were about the
only legacy inherited from his proud and independent
ancestors. They had furnished him a precedent, in
the way of adventure, remarkable for its boldness and
daring. They had crossed a tempestuous and un-
known sea in mid- winter, and planted the standard of
religious toleration upon a savage and inclement coast.
The fame of this achievement had been the first lesson
of his infancy. For him to shrink, therefore, from
the obstacles which lay in his road to the Susquehan-
na, and the difficulties which awaited him there,
would be unworthy of his ancestral name. In money
and this world's goods he was poor; but the self-
denying, self-sacrificing and indomitable courage of
his Puritan father led him on. That same blood
which coursed through the veins of the bold Dissenter
of the English Church, galloped in the veins of his
offspring. If that one could muster resolution to
abandon home and country upon the score of relig-
ious dogmas, — this one could enter the wilderness and
maintain his home there against fearful opposition.
In 1762, the year preceding the treaty of peace
between England and France, the Susquehanna Com-
pany sent out Mr. Jenkins again, in company with
78 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Isaac Tripp, Benjamin Follet, William Buck and a
hundred and fifteen other adventurers, to take posses-
sion of their lands here, and by force if necessary.
They commenced the erection of log houses at the
month of Mill Creek, a mile above the site of
\Yilkes-Barre. They cleared some land and sowed it
with grain ; but we learn of no effort to reconcile the
Indians.
In the autumn of this year they returned to Con-
necticut. In the following spring they came back,
and remained tiU the month of October, when they
were expelled and driven from their improvements
by the Indians. Some of them were cruelly butch-
ered.
This was a check upon their enterprise. Those of
them, however, who had seen the valley, became fas-
cinated with the inducements it held out to them.
They saw a plain of good and fertile land, twenty
miles in extent, and an average of five in width. It
was virgin soil: the plough-share had never entered the
glebe. The climate was salubrious ; and when they
compared this land with the rock-bound hills of their
Connecticut homes, they regarded it as the land of
promise, and one "flowing with milk and honey."
All these things they painted in glowing colors on
their return ; but some of their bretkren they left be-
hind them, who had been murdered by the Indians.
This was a drawback to theu' hopes and expectations,
yet they coveted the land, though beset with dangers.
THE YANKEE AND PENNAMITE WAR. 79
In hope and fear a half dozen more years passed
away. The treaty at Fort Stanwix had been com-
pleted ; the French and English war ended, and
they supposed the Indian races had become more rec-
onciled ; and they began to prepare for another expe-
dition to the Susquehanna country.
In 1768-9 the Connecticut people came back
with a determination to remain. They had resolved
to stand by their possessions ; but upon their arrival
in the valley, they found them in the occupation of
Stewart, Ogden, Jennings and others, who had reach-
ed the valley a few days in advance of them, and had
raised the flag of the Proprietary Government.
Here was a dilemma ; this was an incident upon
which they had made no calculation.
What was to be done ? There were two alterna-
tives only : either to retrace their steps to Connecti-
cut, or stand their ground. They chose the latter.
And here began that long and bitter conflict be-
tween the Connecticut and Pennsylvania men, known
as the " Yankee and Pennamite War," which never
became finally settled till the passage of the com-
promise law of 1799, by the Legislature of Penn-
sylvania. Sometimes attended by bloodshed, some-
times reprisals only, but always a bitter and vindic-
tive feud. The jails of the adjoining counties of
Northampton and Northumberland were often filled
with Wyoming prisoners, sent there by the authori-
ties of Pennsylvania for trespassing on the disputed
5
so niSTOlUCAL SKETCHES OF rLYMOUTH.
land^. And thus a series of murders, arsons, battles,
sieges, arrests and angry personal disputes, continued
lor more than a fourth oi' a eeutury.
I have siiid that Ogdeu and his party occupied the
Yankee buildings and improvements at the mouth of
JMill Creek. They also erected a block house, the
tirst milit^iry fortification in the valley. This looked
too formidable for an attack, and the Yankee immi-
grants crossed the Susquehanna and erected a block
house ; and in compliment to the number of men to
whom the territory of Kingston was set oft*, they
called it "Forty Fort."
After thus securing themselves, they concluded,
upon consultation, to attack Ogden and his party in
his stronghold. They crossed the river, and invested
his fortitieation. In the name of Connecticut they
demanded a surrender. Ogden lioisted a white llag
and demanded a parley. The Yankees sent a com-
mittee to the fort, as they supposed, to agree upon
terms of capitulation and surrender, when they were
arrested by the sheritf of the county of Northampton,
who was concealed in the fort, with his warrant of
axrest in Ms pocket. The committee lieing seized,
the party outside surrendered, and the whole number
were marched over the Blue Mountain to the Eastou
jail.
This quiet and imresisting surrender was an evi-
dence certainly, that these Connecticut men were a
law-abiding and peace-loving people. A few years
THE YANKEE AND PENNAMITE WAR. 81
later we shall find that they were not so submissive
to the Proprietary civil authorities.
They were soon released, however, upon giving
bail for their appearance, when they returned to their
land of promise.
As there were a hundred and sixty behind, of the
two hundred raised by the Susquehanna Company,
these came on soon after the return of the Easton
prisoners, and erected a fortification on the southern
extremity of the Wilkes-Barre river common. This,
in honor of their captain, they christened Fort Dur-
kce.
Within less than two years after the first real oc-
cupation of the valley by white men, the Yankees
had two fortifications — Forty Fort and Fort Durkee ;
and the Pennamites, Fort Ogden.
A pretty good display, for mutual attack and de-
fense, considering the Indian tribes that both of them
had to contend with. As was to be supposed, Ogden
could not withstand the forces occupying the two for-
tifications, and in 1770 they expelled him.
This act aroused the Projirietary Government,
and they sent back Ogden with additional men, who
erected Fort Wyoming, on the common, near the ter-
minus of Northampton street, and some sixty rods
above Fort Durkee.
This enabled the Pennamites to retake Fort Og-
den at Mill Creek. During this year the parties,
being pretty equally divided as to numbers, carried
82 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
on a succession of storms and sieges, arrests and im-
prisonments ; sometimes attended Avitli the death of a
man or two, and the wounding of several, without
any decided advantage upon either side.
Of the party who came out to the valley in
176S-69 there was a son of John Jenkins, known in
the subsequent history of the valley as Lieutenant,
and afterwards as Colonel John Jenkins. This young
man, then in his nineteenth year, became one of the
prominent and leading spirits of the valley in the long
and continuous chain of tragic events, which occurred
during the quarter of a century succeeding the fii'st
settlement of it.
And although Lieutenant Jenldns does not come
within the exact sphere to which I have limited my
sketches, I will not pass over him in silence. I shall
have occasion to use his Diary hereafter, and a brother
of his belonged to the Plymouth colony. His father
having been the leading man in immigration, and
Provisional Judge of the new settlement up to the
time the town of Westmoreland was estabhshed by
the State of Connecticut, and made a part of the
county of Litchfield, and a long period subsequently ;
also a prominent person among the pioneers : presi-
dent of that town meeting of the people of West-
moreland, held on the first of August, 1775, approving
of the acts of Congress which preceded the Declaration
of Independence, and also of the meeting held on the
eighth of August following, when the feeble col-
LIEUTENANT JENKINS. 83
ony endorsed the measures of Congress " in opposing
ye late measures adopted by Parliament to enslave
America ; " in 1776 a member of the Colonial As-
sembly from Westmoreland ; at the meeting of the
people, over which Colonel Zebulon Butler presided,
convened at Wilkes-Barre on the twenty-fourth of
August, 1776, when it was resolved to proceed at
once to the erection of forts for the common defense,
" without fee or reward from y^ town," and immedi-
ately after this meeting joined with his neighbors, in
the erection of Fort Jenkins, in the upper end of the
valley : all of which furnished young Jenkins with a
motive for the entry into that field, which afterwards
became one of danger, toil, and exposure.
In October, 1776, he enlisted in Captain Solomon
Strong's company of United States troops. Twenty-
fourth Kegiment Connecticut Militia, as First Lieu-
tenant. In the year 1777 he was taken prisoner and
sent to Fort Niagara, where he was treated, after the
fashion of all the Continental soldiers, with great
severity — brutality is the better word. In 1778 he
made his escape, and after many exposures and great
suffering, he made his way to his family, in Westmore-
land. On the day of the Wyoming battle, he was
assigned by Colonel Butler to take charge of Forty
Fort. After the terrible disasters of that day of
gloom and horrors, we find him among the fugitives
in their desolate march through the wilderness. He
accompanied Colonel Hartley in his march from the
84 ■ HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
west brancli of the Siisqiielianna, tlirougli tlie Indian
country to Tioga Point, and participated in all the
engagements in that expedition with the Indians and
Tories. He was detailed to the command of the
companv, charged with the burial of the slain on the
Wyoming battle-field. This was accomplished on the
twenty-second of October, 1778. General Washington
summoned him to his headquarters in the early part
of the year 1779, for the purpose of procuring infor-
mation, preparatory to the march of the expedition
under General Sulliran, as to the condition and state
of affairs along the line of that anticipated military
movement. He returned from headquarters, and met
SuUiran at Wilkes-Barre, and was appointed by that
general as his guide, up the Susquehanna, and through
the Indian country. He participated in the skirm-
ishes and battles of that expedition. He was also at
the siege of York Town, and in the trenches, under
Baron Steuben, at the sun-ender of that place.
This man passed an eyentful hfe, and may be
classed among the prominent leading men of the val-
ley. The Diaiy of local events, wlrich he kept, has
been of great benefit to the historians of the valley.
The data are written in plain and intelligible language,
and so far as corroborating chcumstances are left to
us, they are remarkable for their truthfulness. He
began with the occupation of the vaUey, and he sur-
vived its perils and afilictions. Always taking an ac-
tive part, and ever at the post of honor and of dan-
CAPTAIN LAZARUS STEWART. 85
ger. He lived to realize the fruits of his early hard-
ships, and died, at his residence, upon the Wyoming
battle-ground, on the nineteenth of March, 1827, in
his seventy- sixth year.
I have in a manner digressed from the line of
local township history, in giving this short notice of
one of the prominent men of the valley ; but as he
headed that colonial band who forced their way
through the wilderness — through the Indian border
bristling with spear heads — exposed to hunger and
the severest suffering and privations, I felt that I
could not pass the old veteran by, in silence.
But the chances are that the Yankees would have
been driven out of the valley by force, had they not
been joined by Captain Lazarus Stewart,and his com-
pany of forty others, known as the Paxton Kangers.
This new ally produced a kind of equilibrium of pow-
er, and saved the Connecticut men from probable de-
feat and expulsion.
These men came from the county of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, to join the Connecticut standard. They
were a brave and gallant set of men, fearing no
danger, and able to sustain great fatigue and expos-
ure. The late Judge Matthias HoUenback, the head
of the family of that name in this county, was one of
these Paxton Eangers. The Susquehanna Company
gave them the township of Hanover, as a considera-
tion for their services to the Yankee cause.
Captain Lazarus Stewart was a bold, chivalrous
86 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
soldier, I cannot pass tlie opportnnity without say-
ing a -word or two about this remarkable man.
He commanded a company at Braddock's defeat, in
the French and English war. He was engaged to be
married to a Lancaster girl, on Ms return from the
war. In his absence, the home of the father of this
young lady was burned by Indians, and the whole
family butchered : her head was severed from her
body, and planted upon a pole, and raised above the
smouldering ruins.
Captain Stewart on his return from the disasters
of Braddock's field, was in time to see the slaugh-
tered remains of this family, and of his affianced
bride. The smoke of the building had not yet sub-
sided on his arrival. The scene lashed his mind into
a state of fury. Seized with a paroxysm of frenzy,
and impelled by a deep sense of revenge, he swore
eternal enmity toward the whole Indian race. Brood-
ing over the terrible wrongs he had received, he
became more and more embittered against the Indian
tribes. He firmly resolved that between him and
them, there should be no peace. He jjursued and
slew them whenever the opportunity was presented.
He was unceasing in his energy, and unrelenting in
his purpose. This conduct the Proprietary Govern-
ment could not sanction. It was the policy of the
government to have peace with the Indian tribes if
possible. The course of Captain Stewart was proliib-
ited by law, and the consequences were that the Pro-
CAPTAIN LAZARUS STEWAET. 87
prietary Government ordered his arrest and trial.
This lie would not submit to. He turned his eye to
the Wyoming valley, and his mind to the making of
.a league with the Connecticut settlers.
The views and opinions of these people ran in the
same channel with his own. They hated the In-
dians and so did he. They were in opposition to the
Proprietary Grovernment, and the curbing of his re-
venge by that government, had placed him in that
position also.
The Wyoming valley was therefore the spot of
all others for him ; and the hardy pioneers of New
England, fighting under the rights of first grant and
first occupation, in deadly hostility to the jurisdiction
of Pennsylvania, were the people whose sympathies
were in perfect accord with his own.
Here then was a new field for operations. He
made up his mind to enter it. He made common
cause with the Wyoming settlers. At the head of
his brave and intrepid band he came, and surrounded
by his new allies, he threw down the gage of battle,
and with them and their fortunes he pledged the
service of his life.
And true to them and their cause he faithfully
remained. Wherever was the post of danger, there
was Captain Stewart. He was one of the leading
spirits of the Connecticut men amidst all their con-
flicts, even up to his death upon the Wyoming bat-
tle-ground, where he fell at the head of his company,
in the foremost rank.
88 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
For the particular biography of this remarkable
person, I refer the reader to the ^'Annals of Lu-
zerne," written bj one of his kinsmen, Stewart
Pearce, Esq. They are well worthy a perusal. I
have glanced only at the picture, which is there very
cleverly di'awn.
The Yankees being joined by such an auxiliary as
Captain Lazarus Stewart, and who by his military
prowess and daring had infused into the rank and file
of the company under his command all the spirit and
enthusiasm of their leader, were rejoiced at this piece
of good fortune. It gave them new hope, it nerved
them with new energy.
A new spirit seemed to prevail, and the capture
of a fort upon an assault for that purpose, under the
charge of Stewart and his Paxton boys, as they were
termed, was always a matter of almost absolute cer-
tainty.
Thus, at the very commencement of the actual
settlement of the lands upon the Susquehanna, we
find two hostile flags displayed, each as the index of
a separate power. And while the continued struggle
upon the side of both belligerents was pretended to
be classed under a civil regime, and as a means only
of adjusting civil wrongs, there were all the para-
phernaha and outward demonstrations of war — ^forti-
fications, arms, munitions, drills, parades, and all the
demonstrations and martial ajopearances which sur-
round the camp. And to complete the picture, there
CIVIL PROCEEDIISrGS. 89
was the most vindictive and burning hate in the
hearts of the opposing factions. The Yanl^ee hated
the Pennamite, and the Pennamite hated the Yan-
kee. There was not the least particle of love between
them, to incur the risk of loss.
The capturing and recapturing of forts, the taking
of prisoners, robbery and murder, all passed under
the name of civil proceedings. The sheriff of North-
ampton would have a hundred armed deputies to exe-
cute a warrant, and Sheriff Cook, of Northumber-
land, was surrounded by Colonel Plunket and seven
hundred militia, to make an arrest of a few persons
charged with a breach of the peace !
This was the way in which the Proprietary Gov-
ernment conducted its civil administration !
And in the selection of agents by it, men were ap-
pointed who seemed to pay no regard to the ordinary
feelings of humanity. A fellow, by the name of
Alexander Patterson, who was sent to Wilkes-Barre
as a civil ruler, seemed to relish the persecutions he
heaped upon his prisoners, to a degree that astonishes
the mind of a civiHzed man ; and he gloried in the
opportunity for the exercise of his vindictive feelings
toward the Yankee population. He regarded them
as outlaws, and no punishment was too severe to
inflict upon them. Some of the acts of brutality of
this civil magistrate, upon Plymouth men, I shall al-
lude to hereafter.
But it is not within the line I have shaped out to
90 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
go into a general account of the circumstances and
incidents of this Pennamite and Yankee war, save so
far as it may have a particuhir bearing upon the peo-
ple of Plymouth.
To those who would wish to understand the sub-
ject in its lengthy details, I must refer them to our
local historians — Chapman, Miner, Pearce, Peck and
Stone. The three iirst named, speak more particu-
larly of this conflict than the two latter.
The chief scenes of these feuds were upon the
east side of the river, and in the vicinity of the forts
at and near Wilkes-Barre — though the last grand de-
monstration came off at the battle of Nanticoke,
which was upon Plymouth soil.
The people of Plymouth had a small fort or
stockade upon "Garrison Hill," which had been
erected by the early settlers, in 1776, as their first
movement of defensive operations, on the declaration
of war, by the United States against Great Britain,
This spot is at the turn of the flat road, and some
seventy rods from the main travelled road through the
town, and not far from the location of the old "swing
gate."
It was years ago, and within my recollection, the
field where we went in search of Indian curiosities —
arrow-heads, pipes, stone hatchets, pots, etc., and
sometimes we would find leaden bullets and pieces of
broken muskets, wliich were the evidences of civiliza-
tion.
TEOUBLES OF PLYMOUTH PEOPLE. 91
THs stockade never became necessary for the ex-
ercise of its military properties, in the Revolutionary
or Pennamite troubles. It was important, however,
as an Indian defense.
But the people of Plymouth, composing at least
one-fifth of the whole population of the valley, had
their full share of the troubles, as weR as the respon-
sibilities of the border war. Several of our people
were killed, many of them imprisoned and cruelly
treated — for it was the Plymouth man who received
no quarter, if he was so unfortunate as to fall into the
enemy's hands.
As the Shawnee tribe before them had been the
especial objects of persecution by their masters, the
Iroquois, so their misfortunes seemed to have fallen on
their successors, as to the spirit of malevolence ; and
whenever one of them fell into the clutches of
Esquire Patterson, or Captains Christie and Shraw-
der, he was certain to feel the pangs of their malice.
These people had been of the first Connecticut
importation — " The Forty Thieves," as Patterson de-
nounced them, and as such he treated them.
Mr. Miner, in his history of Wyoming, informs us
that Patterson, in his capacity as Justice of the
Peace, visited the Shawnee settlement with an armed
force, and under some legal pretext, arrested eleven
respectable citizens and sent them under guard to the
fort at Wilkes-Barre.
"Among the prisoners was Major Prince Alden,
92 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OE PLYMOUTH.
sixty-five years old, feeble from age and suffering
from disease. Compassion yielded notliing to attenu-
ate liis sufferings. Captain James Bidlack was also
arrested. He was between sixty and seventy. His
son of the same name bad fallen, as previously re-
corded, at tbe bead of bis company in tbe Indian bat-
tle ; anotber son, Benjamin, bad served in tbe army
tbrongb tbe Eevolutionary war. Mr. Bidlack bim-
self bad been taken by tbe savages and suffered a te-
dious captivity in Canada. All tbis availed bim no-
tbing. Benjamin Haiwey, wbo bad been a prisoner to
tbe Indians, was also arrested. Samuel Eansom, son
of Captain Ransom, wbo bad fallen in tbe massacre,
was most rudely treated on being arrested. ' Ab,
ba !' cried Patterson, 'you are tbe jockey we wanted;
away witb bim to tbe guard-bouse, witb old Harvey,
anotber damned rascal ! '
"Eleven in all were taken and driven to tbe fort,
wbere tbey were confined in a room witb a mud floor,
on tbe tbirty-first of October, wet and comfortless,
witb no food and little fire, wbicb as tbey were sitting
round. Captain Cbristie came in, ordered tbem to
lie down on tbe ground, and bade tbe guard to blow
out tbe brains of any one wbo should attempt to rise.
Even tbe staff of tbe aged Mr. Alden was taken from
bim."
Tbe object of these acts of brutality upon the
part of Patterson, it is supposed, was to enable bim
in their absence, to drive then- families from their
MR. Harvey's mission. 93
houses and their homes, and put some of his minions
in their places. Another motive may have been to
pum"sh old Mr. Harvey for an act it appears he had
committed, which consisted in being sent as an agent
by some of his people to Connecticut, to ascertain the
names of the two hundred, who came out under the
auspices of the Susquehanna Company.
I insert an extract of a letter from Captain Shraw-
der, who backed legal precepts with a military com-
pany, and was at that time stationed at Wilkes-Barre.
This letter bears date, Wyoming, March thirtieth,
1783. " On Monday Colonel Butler arrived here, and
the day following he and several of the principal in-
habitants were over the river to Shawnee ; but
whether on private (as they would fain make me be-
lieve) or pubhc business, I cannot tell. On Thursday
they had a town meeting here, when they agreed, ac-
cording to Captain Spalding's information to me, to
send Mr. Harvey to a certain place in Connecticut for
a copy of records, to see what time the first settlers
came here, and who they were; accordingly Mr. Har-
vey set off yesterday morning."
This little piece of service, therefore, of Mr.
Harvey, was by no means palatable to Patterson and
Shrawder, and was a thing to be jotted down and
remembered some day on the general summing up of
charges against the " damned rascal," as Patterson
pleased to designate him.
The jail calendar at Easton contains the names,
94 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
among otliers, of Grideon Chiircli, Abram Pike,
Thomas Heath, Prince Alden, Jnstiu Gaylord, Abra-
ham Ncsbitt, and Benjamin Bidkick. But this was
but one importation. The calendars of that and the
Sunbury jail, in Northumberland, if all produced,
would run into scores. And for ^^hat oifence ? The
cultivation and claim of land to which they had the
first grant and the first occupation. And this was
defined and punished as a crime, in the terrible days
of which we are writing.
The people of our town had, in common with
their New England friends, done everything in their
power to aid the Colonial struggle in the efi'ort for
Liberty. At least two men out of three were in the
Revolutionary service, including the terrible slaughter
at Wyoming, and still this great tax, paid with half
their substance, and sealed on Revolutionary battle-
fields with the heart's blood of scores of them, availed
them notliing, after the surrender of Cornwallis' sword
to Wasliington. The occupation of land they had
settled upon was a sufficient cause, upon the part of
the Proprietary Grovernment, to harrass the remnant
of them, saved from slaughter, with every imagiuable
device.
When peace came, most of the soldiers of the na-
tion who had survived the seven-years' conflict, were
at rest. Not so with the people of Plymouth and the
Wyoming valley at large. The foreign foe had suf-
fered his defeat, returned to his home, and }-ielded
THE BATTLE OF NANTICOKE. 95
to the fortunes of war ; and the people generally who
had achieved the victory were at rest. But the Wyo-
ming soldier, on returning to his fireside after a seven-
years' siege, and when he should have been released
from further exposure and excitement, could not lay
down his arms; for though war had relieved nearly
the whole country, it still showed its glowering fea-
tures at the threshold of his home.
He had survived Brandywine and Germantown,
to meet as vindictive a foe, on his return, as he had
faced upon those fields. This was cruelly hard, but
so it seemed to have been noted down in the book of
his destiny.
As the battle of IsTanticoke was contested on Ply-
mouth soil, and as every able-bodied man and boy in
the township were engaged in it, there will be a pro-
priety in giving the full details of it. At least one
third of the Yankee force was made up of its citizens.
In the month of December, 1775, the Proprietary
Grovernment sent an armed force of some five hundred
men, under the command of Colonel William Plun-
ket, to destroy the Yankee settlement at Muncy, on
the west branch of the Susquehanna. This settlement
embraced the two townships of Charleston and Judea,
which were within the limits of the charter of the
Susquehanna Company, though settled some years
after the Wyoming valley. The number being small,
and not having the necessary means of defense, they
were obliged to surrender at discretion.
6
96 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
One man was killed by Plunket's command, a few
wounded, and, as was usual in such cases, tlie leading
men were conveyed to the Sunhury Jail.
Flushed with this easy victory over the defense-
less people of Charleston and Judea, the Proprietary
Grovernment resolved upon sending Colonel Plunket
to Wyoming, to remove the Yankees from that place.
So they commenced making preparation for the
campaign, by the addition of two hundred more
Northumberland militia, collecting the necessary sup-
plies and boats for their transportation.
Any property in those times which belonged to
a "Wyoming Yankee, was the proper subject of plun-
der by the Proprietary Government, through its
agents. It required two boats to carry their supplies,
ammunition, and a field-piece. It seems they were
determined on this occasion to add artillery to their
small arms. It would have a more imposing ap-
pearance.
They had little difficulty in procaring their ships
of war. They were at hand. A boat of Benjamin
Harvey, Jr., had been seized a few days before at
Fort Augusta, and the cargo confiscated, upon the
ground that he was a traitor to the government. One
of his neighbors had been treated in the same way.
Here then were the two boats for the expedition.
And what was better, Mr. Harvey was impressed in
the service, to pilot the boats up the Susquehanna,
with the glorious privilege, on arriving at Nanticoke,
. THE MARCH TO WYOMING. 97
of shooting at, or being sliot by, bis family and
friends. But there was no release from bis position.
Tbere is no apology available against vindictive force.
He submitted.
But tbere was another necessary wanting. When
the Proprietary Government made war, it was done
under the authority of a civil process. To meet this
emergency, a warrant was sworn out to arrest some
Yankee settler for treason. Against whom it was di-
rected in this case, we have not the record to show.
The blanks in these warrants were generally filled up
with the names of John Franklin, Zebulon Butler,
Lazarus Stewart or one of the Harvey s. But this
was of little importance. The warrant of arrest
was obtained, and put in the hands of Sheriff Cook,
of the county of Northumberland, for execution, in
the name and on behalf of the Proprietary Govern-
ment of Pennsylvania.
The two hundred additional men were mustered
into the service of the sheriff's posse, which now
numbered from six to seven hundred strong. Am-
munition and supplies were stored in the two ships
of war, the cannon mounted, and in the early part of
December, the soldiery commenced their march to
Wyoming, upon the main road skirting the west side
of the river ; and the flotilla, with Benjamin Harvey,
Jr., as pilot, weighed anchor upon the head-waters
of the Susquehanna. With colors flying and martial
instruments sending out notes of the slogan, or some
98 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
other tune in oliaractor, the whoh> foree commenced
their movement toward tlie enemy's country.
On the twentieth of December, Colonel Flunket,
at the head of his invading army, — to carry out the
civil process in the hands of Sheritf Cook, — arrived at
the mouth of Nescopeck creek, something like twenty
miles below Nanticoke. On this very day Congress,
probably having been informed of the onslaught upon
the poor settlers of Charleston and Judea, and the
preparation by the Pennsylvania authorities, prompt-
ed by the chivalrous acts of the colonel in that cam-
paign, for the subjugation, if not the expulsion of
the Yankees on the north branch of the Susquehanna,
passed a very important resolution.
Its substance is, that in the opinion of Con-
gress, the contending parties on the Susq[uehanna
should cease all hostilities, and avoid every appear-
ance of force ; that all property taken should be
immediately restored to the original owners ; that
there should be no interruption caused by either
party in t1ie passing and repassing of persons behav-
ing peaceably, through the disputed territory; that
those who had been seized and kept in custody ought
to be immediately released, that they might go to
their respective homes; and recommending peace and
quiet until a legal decision could be had on the dis-
pute, or until Congress should take further orders.
It is probable that, in those days of mail facili-
ties. Colonel Plunket and Sheriff Cook did not re-
COLONEL ZEBULON BUTLER. 99
ceive this resolution of Congress till after the battle
of Nanticoke, which was fought on the twenty-fourth
and. twenty-fifth. It is possible, however, that the
knowledge of this may have had something to do
with their precipitate retreat ; and it is fair to pre-
sume that their Yankee reception, the floating ice
in the river, and the severe cold weather which came
on every northern blast, had much more to do with
it. Eailroads and telegraph wires had not then made
their appearance.
There was but little ice in the Susquehanna, when
the expedition left Fort Augusta. This obstruction,
however, increased as they ascended the river. The
fact of making but thirty miles in three or four days
is evidence that they had pretty serious obstacles in
the way.
The people of the valley had received information
of the fitting out of the expedition, before the march
had been commenced from Sunbury. They therefore
had but little time for preparation. And as there
had been a respite from any serious collisions for a
year or two previous, they were not in a condition
to meet successfully so large an opposing force. The
whole valley could not muster, including old and
young, seven hundred men.
Under the direction, however, of Colonel Zebulon
Butler, they commenced operations with a right good
will. Impressed with the idea that they were to fight
on their own territory, and in defense of their civil
100 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
rights, their homes and their children, they mustered
men and bo5^s some three hundred. A small force
compared with the little army of Colonel Plunket ;
hut for the deficiency in rank and file, they made up
in resolution and courage. Those who could not be
provided with guns were supplied with long poles
with scythes fastened upon the ends — a formidable
weapon in a hand to hand encounter ; and as the
soldiers marched along they jokingly named their
imique weapons, " the end of time."
On the night of the twenty-third of December,
Colonel Butler encamped with his command near the
mouth of Harvey's creek. From this position he
sent Major John Grarret,with a flag, down the river
some two or three miles to meet the advancing
column, and inquire of Colonel Plunket a? to the
meaning of this hostile approach and military dis-
play ? Major Garret was informed that it was alto-
gether a peaceable demonstration, for no purpose but
to aid the sherifi" of Northumberland county in exe-
cuting a warrant for the arrest of several persons at
Wyoming, for the violation of the laws of the Pro-
prietary Government, and that it was to be hoped
there would be no resistance to such a reasonable and
proper request !
And this was the mode and manner, at that time, in
this part of Pennsylvania, of executing civil process !
Major Garret knew well, from the military force before
liim, that tliis declaration was a most infamous lie.
ENSIGN MASON FITCH ALDEN. 101
So on Ms return, he reported tliat the enemy out-
numbered their own forces more than two to one.
"The conflict will be a sharp one, boys," said he.
" I for one am ready to die, if it need be, for my
country."
Early on the morning of the twenty-fourth,
Colonel Butler retired up the river about a mile
from the place, where he had bivouacked on the night
of the twenty-third, to a point of natural defense
on the Harvey farm. This natural defense consists
of a line of elevated rocks, extending from the base
of the mountain, in a south-easterly direction, almost
to the bank of the river, a distance probably of half
a mile. The road crossed this ledge through a gorge
in the rocky promontory, at a short distance from
the river. The ground was covered with forest trees.
Here he took his stand ; his men finishing an ad-
dition to the breast- work, which they had partially
constructed on their way down. The outline of this
natural barricade may be easily traced by the eye.
On the south-west line of it are the entrances to a
coal mine which is now in operation.
Colonel Butler, on leaving his camp in the morn-
ing, had detailed Ensign Mason Fitch Alden, with
eighteen men, to remain there as a corps of observa-
tion, with orders to report as to any movement of
the enemy.
He also detached Captain Lazarus Stewart, with
twenty men, with orders to cross the river to the
102 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
east side, and take position a short distance above
the Nanticoke falls, on the Lee farm, to repel any
attempt that might be made, on the part of the
enemy, to effect a landing on that side of the stream.
Having thus disposed of the details of his plan
of arrangement, and which were done with profound
military skill, he put his men in position behind his
rock barricade, and awaited the approach of the
enemy. He was thus guarded at all points, and his
position was one that was almost impregnable against
a force, such as was about to advance upon it.
On the same morning, December twenty-fourth,
Colonel Plunket reached the ground occupied by
Alden, about eleven o'clock. Alden slowly retiring
out of the reach of gunshot, was followed by the
enemy up to the barricades.
Colonel Plunket marched up with much display,
his drums beating and music pealing from his instru-
ments. Observing the strong position before him, he
halted at a respectable distance, exclaiming, "My
God ! what a breast-work."
Mr. Miner, in his history of this battle, and
whose text I have mainly relied on, says that John
Carey, who was in the action, told him, in speaking
of the conduct of Colonel Butler throughout the
affair, " I loved the man ; he was an honor to the
human species."
The taking of life was not the object or design
of these defensive operations. As the Yankees were
PASSAGE ACKOSS THE RIVEK. 103
in a safe position, Colonel Butler ordered his entire
line to fii'e a volley of blank cartridges, thinking
that this would give the enemy the idea, by the re-
port, that their force corresponded with the formida-
ble character of their breast- work.
The device answered the purpose ; the enemy's
line was thrown into confusion. Without firing a
gun they retreated out of range of the fire at the
breast-work.
Colonel Plunket, supposing that the barricade
could not be stormed without great loss, commenced
another movement. Placing a reconnoitring force
into a boat, he directed them to cross the river, with
a view of ascertaining the practicability of enter-
ing the valley, on the east side. The passage of this
boat and crew was watched by both parties with
much anxiety. The Yankees, however, had some
knowledge as to the result of the adventure, which
the Pennamites did not.
As a kind of shield, Benjamin Harvey, Jr., was
put upon this boat. As the crew were approaching
the shore, Capt. Stewart with his guard of twenty
men gave them a volley. As there were no blank
cartridges about this part of the affair, there was
some mischief done ; two or three were wounded, and
probably the whole crew would have been killed
if Harvey had not called out to them to desist, as
.they might kill some of their friends. Kecognizing
him. Captain Stewart discontinued his fire.
104 HKTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
The crew plying their oars, and coming within
the draught of the rapids below, passed throngh
them in a moment.
And thus ended the operations of the twenty-
fourth. Colonel Plunket withdrew to the camp
which Colonel Butler had left in the morning, and re-
mained there over night.
The result of a military consultation that night,
it is to be presumed, held between him and Sheriff
Cook, was to diyide the attacking column in the
morning — ^the ris-ht of his line to storm the breast-
works of the Yankees, and the left to outflank
their rio-ht. This was a matter which seemed more
feasible in. theory, than it afterwards proyed to be
when tested. And if Colonel Plunket had under-
stood the ground as well as Colonel Butler did, he
might haye changed his plan of attack.
I haye aheady stated that this natural defense of
rocky ledges was nearly a half mile in length, striking
the base of a very steep hill on the west terminus,
and reaching nearly to the bank of the riyer on the
east. A flanking moyement, therefore, on the set-
tlers' right, was opposed by a steep hill, and by the
riyer on the left. This then was impracticable. And
as for storming or scaling the breast -work, that was
a serious affair when met squarely in the face.
"With this plan of operations in yiew. Colonel
Plunket marched out of camp, on Christmas morning,
to giye battle. Concealing his men with branches
DEATH OF SURVEYOE LUKEXS' SOIN". 105
and loose rocks, he advanced upon the fortifications.
The fije now became general along the whole line.
Gruarded at all points, Colonel Butler had provided
for the movement on his right, by detaching a force
to guard his flank, at the base of the mountain.
The conflict lasted most of the day. The flank-
ing party was repulsed at every attempt,to storm or
scale the fortifications.
It has never been known what number were
killed or wounded in this battle. Probably as many
as a dozen were slain on both sides, and maybe three
times that number wounded. A son of Surveyor-
Greneral Lukens was killed, on the side of the enemy,
and I have been informed by those who were in the
battle, that there were three or four others, and sev-
eral wounded.
Four days after the battle, December twenty-
ninth, the records show that the people of Westmore-
land were in town meeting, and among other things
they,
'^ Voted — 'Titus Hinman and Perin Boss be ap-
pointed to collect the charity of the people for the
support of the widow Baker, the widow Franklin,
and the mdow Ensign."
Baker and Franklin were Plymouth men.
Mr. Miner gives it as his opinion, and he had
been very industrious in the collection of facts in the
compilation of his history, and most of his knowl-
edge derived from the actors in the afiair — "that
106 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
probably six or eiglit were killed, and three times
tbat number wounded," on tlie side of tlie settlers.
Towards the close of the day, Colonel Plunket,
finding Colonel Butler's position too strong to be car-
ried, withdrew from the field, and immediately com-
menced his retreat on the west side of the river.
He was pursued by Captain Stewart on the east
side of the river some miles, but without any damag-
ing results.
And thus ended the battle of Nanticoke. The de-
sign of the invasion, in mid winter, though with very
formidable numbers for those days, was an evidence
if not of folly, at least a want of military skill and
precaution. The battle itself was the most formida-
ble, and concentrated more force, and was attended
with more bloodshed, than any one other conflict be-
tween the Connecticut and Pennsylvania people.
And as the field of action was upon Plymouth soil,
that township being more in immediate danger, it is
probable that on that memorable day, there was not
one of her citizens, capable of bearing arms, that was
not engaged in it.
An incident or two connected with the battle of
Nanticoke,must be mentioned for the first time in his-
tory. It is related by William Jameson, who was in
the engagement, that he and old Benjamin Harvey
(father of the Benjamin impressed in the boat service
of Colonel Plunket) occupied a position together be-
hind one of the rock breast-works. Mr. Harvey was
BENJAMIN HARVEY. 107
an aged man, and grandfather of Jameson Harvey,
Esq., late of Plymouth. He fought with a musket,
and as the old hero would drive down the bullet with
his ramrod, he would "pray the Lord to direct it to
the hearts of the bloody Pennamites; " and whenever
he would fire through the loop-hole, he would ex-
claim, " there, damn you, take that ! " He thus load-
ed with a prayer and discharged with a curse !
I learn on traditionary authority, that on the first
day of the battle, when Colonel Butler ordered the
first round of blank cartridges to be fired, he noticed
the bark, limbs, and twigs falling on his left where
the Plymouth men were stationed. He turned to a
subaltern, remarking, "that there was no more use in
attempting to restrain those fellows, (the Shawnees)
than wild Arabs ; that they would shoot a Pennamite
if they knew they were to die for it the next minute,
and by refraining, they could save their life."
More than fifty years ago, I remember seeing a
large flat rock, set up on edge between two trees,
near the natural breast- work, upon this battle-field.
It stood between two chestnuts, and as the trees
grew, it became firmly imbedded between them. This
was pointed out to me by my father as " one of the
barricades of the early settlers of the valley, in a bat-
tle that had been fought on that ground many years
before." I saw it often in after years. It is not
there now.
Progress has removed this old landmark, an in-
108 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
dex of early border warfare, a monument in com-
memoration of brave and fearless men, and around
wbicli clung the dearest recollections of the past.
Why was it done ?
Progress did the work, and so progress drilled
holes into the great boulder, detached from the
precipice, on the brow of the hill above and near the
entrance to the Grand Tunnel, and put in blasts of
powder and rent it into pieces. This huge rock,
some ten feet in height, Avith an even surface of
some twenty feet in diameter, was a precious relic of
the past : it was the threshing-floor of old Benjamin
Harvey, before the dawn of Independence. It re-
mained there quietly in its bed as late as 1840. Pro-
gress itched for its destruction, and it is gone !
The next movement of this modern Sirocco will
be the tearing away of the old Academy. Vandal-
ism is unloosed.
Progress, unrestrained by sound and discriminat-
ing judgment, is a more ferocious monster than the
beast of seven heads and ten horns of the Apoca-
lypse, which arose out of the sea, the fearful type of
the great enemy of man, and which so troubled the
visions of St. John !
His greedy and capacious maw can contain every-
thing : Yankee fortifications, rock threshing-floors,
public commons, dedicated under the solemnities of
law as places for the recreation of toiling men and
their little ones ; the Column Vendome, the Palace
J A BI E S O N H A E V E Y.
^
HARRISON WRIGHT. 109
of the Tuilleries, and will yet swallow up tlie Pyr-
amids !
Progress will soon turn his great glaring eye-balls
upon the old Academy, which in its day, has sent out
some of the very best business and professional men
of this Commonwealth. You who doubt, look to the
substantial business men and merchants of Ply-
mouth during the last thirty years, and call to mind
the stirring appeals and nervous forensic declama-
tions of Harrison Wright.
It is a subject of regret that, of the numerous
members of the Harvey family, many of them being
conspicuous men in the early settlement of Plymouth,
no likeness is to be had of any one of the earlier im-
migrants.
I insert the photograpic likeness of Mr. Jameson
Harvey, now well advanced in years; but who is of
the third generation of the family, since their settle-
ment in the town. The same farm that his grand-
father resided upon, this gentleman occupied as his
home till within the last three years, when he re-
moved to Wilkes-Barre, where he now resides. The
land is underlaid with coal, and has become very val-
uable.
CHAPTER V.
PENNAMITE AND YANKEE WAR CONTINUED. — ICE
FLOOD, EXPULSION OF THE SETTLERS AND ACTS
OF CRUELTY INFLICTED UPON THEM. SETTLERS
RETURN. FIGHT ON ROSS HILL. TORIES DRIVEN
OUT OF SHAWNEE.
THE battle of Nanticoke was upon the eve of the
Revolution. The intervening time was but from
Christmas to July. Local strifes were to be laid
aside. The great and momentous question of a na-
tion's liberty, was at hand. The cry " to arms ! "
resounded throughout the land. The issue was be-
tween Liberty and Despotism. The people of Ply-
mouth were undivided on this issue ; their enemies
were not. Our town furnished more soldiers than its
quota.
For the present we pass over the ensuing seven
years of toil and exposure, of misery and bloodshed,
and come down to the close of the rebellion, to see
how our veterans were rewarded for their sacrifices
and their valor.
Articles of peace, in which the Independence of
the United States of America was recognized, were
signed and exchanged on the twentieth day of No-
vember, 1782. The soldiers of Plymouth who had
survived the terrible encounter returned to their
(110)
THE ICE FLOOD, 111
homes in tlie winter of 1782-83. They laid aside
their implements of war, and took up those of the
husbandman. During the summer they prepared
their ground and sowed their grain, but they were
not allowed to gather their harvest.
They would do to fight on the battle-fields for hb-
erty, but not to reap the harvest their hands had pre-
pared. The children of the men who perished from
the inclemency of the winter at Valley Forge, or who
fell at the Wyoming Massacre, could plant the seeds,
but not gather the crop.
On the thirteenth and fourteenth of March, 1784,
occurred the memorable ice flood in the Susquehanna.
The elements seemed to have joined the common
enemy of the poor settlers. It is said that misfor-
tunes never come singly.
I copy the account of the flood and its disasters
from Mr. Chapman :
"After a winter of unusual severity, about the
middle of March the weather became suddenly warm,
and on the thirteenth and fourteenth rain fell in tor-
rents, melting the deep snows throughout all the hills
and valleys, in the upper regions watered by the Sus-
quehanna. The following day the ice in the river
began to break up, and the streams rose with great
rapidity. The ice first gave way at the difi'erent
rapids, and floating down in great masses, lodged
against the frozen surface of the more gentle parts of
the river, where it remained firm. In this manner
7
112 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF rLYMOUTH,
several large dams w-ere formed, whicli caused such
an acciiraulatiou of water that the river overtiowed
all its banks, and one general inundation overspread
the extensive plains of Wyoming. The inhabitants
took refnge, and saw their property exposed to the
fnry of the waters.
"At length the upper dam gave way; huge masses
of ice were scattered in every direction. The deluge
bore down upon the dams below, which successively
yielded to the insupportable burden, and the whole
went otf with the noise of contending storms.
Houses, barns, stacks of hay and grain were swept
otf in the general destruction, to be seen no more.
The plain on which the village of "Wilkes-Barre is
built, was covered with heaps of ice, which continued
a great portion of the following summer."
A graphic and well-drawn picture, truly. Those
who have witnessed the breaking up of the huge ice
fields of the Susquehanna, caused by a sudden thaw,
will recognize the force and power of the description
from the pen of Mr. Chapman..
There has been no Hood approximating to its
character since, in the Susquehanna. The one known
as " St. Patrick's Flood," of 1S65, approaches the
nearest to it. So called because of its occurrence on
the seventeenth and eighteenth of March, the former
being the birth-day of that saint.
It was regarded as proper for the subject of record.
The court of the county at August session 1865,
THE FLOOD ON '^GARRISON HILL." 113
caused the following entry to be made on the minutes :
"The flood of the seventeenth and eighteenth of
March, 1865, known as " St. Patrick's Flood/' was
24 7-lOths feet above low-water mark in the Susque-
hanna, and it is the general opinion that it was four
feet higher than the " Pumpkin Flood " of October,
1786."
From the most reliable information I can gather,
the flood of 1784 was from five to six feet higher
than the one of 1865. It may therefore be styled the
king of the floods of the Susquehanna. The river
probably rose thirty-three feet above its ordinary low-
water mark. A fearful and terrible deluge was the
result.
The people of our town were not aware of these
sudden and great rises which occasionally occurred in
the Susquehanna, and therefore did not exercise
proper precaution in the selection of the sites for
their new homes. There were eight or nine dwellings
on " Garrison Hill " in 1784. No one in these days
would think of erecting buildings upon that level.
All of those dwellings with their sheds and out-
houses were swept off, in that memorable flood. Rev.
Benjamin Bidlack was carried away in the house he
occupied. After a perilous voyage of a night, plung-
ing about amidst ice bergs and floating debris, ex-
pecting every moment to be engulphed, he finally
found a safe harbor at the lower end of the Shawnee
Flats.
114 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Mr. Asa Jackson, of Abraham's Plains, was
drowned. There were no Kves lost in Plymouth, but
the destruction of property there, as well as through-
out the valley, was immense.
Before the calamities of the flood had subsided,
the people of Plymouth and the whole valley were
subjected to a new horror,
Alexander Patterson, the civil magistrate of
"VVilkes-Barre, conceived that the time had come to
exterminate the Yankee race in Wyoming. Devoid
of the common impulses of the human heart, and im-
pelled by the most wicked designs, he commenced the
work of driving a helpless people, now composed
principally of old men, boys, women and children,
from the few homes that the angry waters had spared
them.
John Franklin, whose brother was a Plymouth
man, and had been killed at the battle of Nanticoke,
informs us in his journal, "that the soldiers (Chris-
tie's and Shrawder's companies, stationed in the
Wilkes-Barre garrison, and the body guard of Pat-
terson), were set to work removing the fences
from the enclosures of the inhabitants, laying fields
of grain open to be devoured, fencing up the high-
ways, and between the houses of the settlers and
their wells of water ; that they were not permitted to
procure water from their wells, or travel their usual
highways. The greater part of the people were in
the most distressed situation, numbers having had
CRUEL TREATMENT OF THE SETTLERS. 115
their houses swept off by the uncommon overflowing
of the Susquehanna, in the month of March preced-
ing ; numbers were without shelter and in a starving
condition. They were not suffered to cut a stick of
timber, or make any shelters for their families. They
were forbid to draw their nets to fish ; their nets
were taken from them by the officers of the garrison.
The settlers were often dragged out of their beds in
the night season by ruffians, and beat in a cruel
manner. Complaints were made to the justices, as
well as to the commanding officers of the garrison,
but to no purpose, and were equally callous to every
feeling of humanity."
What a picture is here presented of the condition
of our people. The elements and the wrath of man
seemed to have been in accord. The evil passions of
the human heart had culminated. The worst of pas-
sions were unloosed, and mercy no longer had an ex-
istence in the heart of Patterson, and the minions
whom he had in his train. He unleashed his hounds
and they eagerly scented, and savagely pursued, their
prey. The grievances portrayed by Franklin, were
but the prelude of the tragedy which followed.
On the thirteenth and fourteenth of May, just
sixty days after the horrors of the flood, the two com-
panies of soldiers, under the order of Patterson, were
marched out, with fixed bayonets, for the purpose of
expelling the whole Yankee population of the valley.
The settlers were weak now ; the battle-fields of
116 UISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF FLYMOUTH.
the revolutiou had decimated their number. The
Groddess of Liberty smiled com'plaeendy upon the
people of most of the laud, but her tace was veiled
upon the plains of the Susquehanna.
The day of their tribulation had usurped the day
of their jubilee. Eejoicings and thanksgivings were
the songs elsewhere, but here was the land of mourn-
ing. The woman who had become widowed, and the
child who had become orphaned, by the ravages of
war, had none to lean upon. The old man who had
given his sons to his country in the hour of need,
hobbled upon his crutches as his only support now.
The battles and the tloods had joined hands;
these had erected the scatfold. and Pattei^on now ap-
peared as the common hangman.
His orders were to expel the people ; " to take no
excuse ; to give no quarter ; to burn the houses of
those who were refractory or disobeyed ordei^s.''
Not more unrelenting and revengeful were the de-
crees of Pharaoh, issued against the children of Isra-
el. The same evil spirit actuated the minds of both.
The Egyptian king gtwe his fugitives the choice of
the road they should travel : Pattersons orders were
that the Wyoming people should travel the roads
where there wei*e no bridges, and where the wilder-
ness had not .yet received the kindly imprint of the
foot of the pioneer.
The poor settlei"s begged that they might go np
or down the river, as in this wav thev could use
EXPULSION OF THE SETTLERS. 117
boats. Their liorses and wagons had been carried
away by the floods. Patterson said no. They then
besought him to permit them to take the road by
Stroudsburg, to Easton^on the Delaware. The mon-
ster said no. These roads had bridges over the
streams and wagons coukl pass over them, and there-
fore the exodus coukl not move upon them.
The road to Lacka waxen was the road to Connec-
ticut, that the refugees must travel upon, and no
other, and upon that they must take up their line of
march at once, without food, without clothing, with-
out the means of transportation, without hope. Six-
ty miles of a howling wilderness lay before them, and
there was no land of promise beyond. The road they
were compelled to travel had not been repaired, or
used during the seven years of the Kevolution; it
was almost impassable, even for persons on foot.
The streams were swollen with rains, the bridges
were decayed and gone, there was no inn by the way-
side, and no shelter to screen the helpless creatures
from winds and storms.
Mr. Miner, in his history, p. 345, says : "About
five hundred men, women and children, with scarce
provisions to sustain life, plodding their weary way,
mostly on foot, the road being impassable for wagons ;
mothers carrying their infants, and wading streams
up to their arm-pits, and at night slept on the naked
earth, the heavens their canopy, with scarce clothing
to cover them. A Mr. Gardner, and John Jenkins,
118 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
(who had been a representative to the Connecticut
Assembly, and who was chairman of the town meet-
ing which had in 1775 adopted the noble resolutions
in favor of liberty,) both aged men and lame, sought
their weary way on crutches. Little children, tired
with travelling, crying to their mothers for bread,
which they had not to give them, sank from exhaus-
tion into stillness and slumber, while others could
only shed tears of compassion and sorrow, till in
sleep, they forgot their griefs and cares. Several of
the unhappy sufferers died in the wilderness, others
were taken sick from excessive fatigue, and expired
soon after reaching the settlement. A widow with a
numerous family of children, whose husband had
been slain in the war, endured inexpressible hard-
ships. One child died and she buried it as she could,
behind a hemlock log, probably to be disinterred from
its shallow covering and be devoured by wolves."
One of the exiles, Elisha Harding, Esq., gives a
very spirited account of this terrible journey through
the wilderness, which I cannot omit. He says :
" It was a solemn scone ; parents, their children
crying from hunger ; aged men on their crutches ; all
ursred forward bv an armed force at our heels."
In seven days they made their journey of sixty
miles. They had reached the Delaware ; they were
in a civilized land. Some of them went up and some
of them went down that river, seeking shelter where
they could, and living as they could.
SYMPATHY AROUSED. 119
Mr. Harding says lie took the road, east, in the
direction of Connecticut, but when he reached the
summit of the Shongum Mountain, he turned back,
as did the Israelites of old, to survey the land he had
left. But hear him in his own language : " I looked
back with this thought — ' Shall I abandon Wyoming
forever ? ' The reply was ' No, oh, no ! There lie
yom' murdered brothers and friends. Dear to me art
thou, though a land of affliction.' Every way looked
gloomy except towards Wyoming. Poor, ragged and
distressed as I was, I had youth and health, and felt
that my heart was whole. So I turned back to de-
fend or die."
The news of the brutal conduct which caused
these sufferings spread wide and far. The sympathy
of the whole country was aroused. The entire people
of the State of Pennsylvania, except the few land-
speculators who had title rights in Wyoming, became
excited, and demanded that these people should be
restored to their possessions. The Proprietary Gov-
ernment had become a Sovereign State. An order
was issued on the thirteenth of June, directing the
companies of Christie and Shrawder to be forthwith
discharged. These soldiers immediately left the
valley.
A month of exile thus passed, and the settlers of
the Susquehanna were stragglers and outcasts, wan-
dering upon the shores of the Delaware; but the people
of New Jersey and of Pennsylvania who lived in that
120 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OP PLYMOUTH.
region, were liospitable and kind to the wretched and
forlorn objects, who appealed to them for charity.
The Pennsylvania authorities not only directed
the soldiers stationed here to be discharged, but they
also ordered the sheriff of Northumberland — the pres-
ent territory of Luzerne at that time being a part of
it — to repair to Wyoming, invite the settlers back
again, and reinstate them in their possessions. Sher-
iff Antis accordingly came into the valley about
the middle of June. He sent messengers to the
Delaware to inform the settlers, in the name of the
State, that they might return to Wyoming. This
was of course glad tidings to them, and they com-
menced their march back again, and in a week or ten
days afterwards, most of them had arrived. They
halted on the summit of the Wilkes-Barre mountain,
and erected a fort there, called " Fort Lillo-pe."
There were reasons, of which they were informed,
why they did not at once descend into the valley below.
After the discharge of the soldiers of Christie
and Shrawder, Patterson immediately — setting the
orders and decrees of the State authority at defiance,
— commenced enrolling those of the Pennsylvania
claimants who were here ; persons also who had taken
the side of Grreat Britain in the war, tories, and all
the disaffected characters whom he could seduce,
either by threats or promises, and took possession of
the garrison. Under this state of affairs, the author-
ity of the sheriff amounted to nothing.
BRUTALITY OF PATTERSON. 121
Patterson sent a flag up to the fort on tlie moun-
tain, to give the people an imdtation to come on.
They having heard from their runners that their
houses and farms were in the possession of the tories
and Pennamite claimants, were afraid of Patterson.
They knew the man and the perfidy of his heart.
Upon consultation, however, it was agreed to send
a committee and see how matters stood ; but the
Plymouth people were excluded from this piece of
work. It would not do for the Franklins, the Bid-
lacks, the Harveys, the Gaylords, nor the Nesbitts, to
go on such a mission. These were marked men.
The committee came, but this monster in human
shape, disregarding all rules of honor and the sacred
character of a flag of truce, immediately caused the
committee to be arrested ; and two of them. Captain
Jabez Fish, of Wilkes-Barre, and John Gore, of
Kingston, were cruelly beaten with iron ramrods.
This information reaching the people at their
mountain fortification, they unanimously resolved to
brave every thing, and, if needs be, die in the cause.
Their committee, invited under a flag of truce, had
been shamefully and cruelly beaten with iron rods ;
and they made up their minds, old and young, women
and children, to take up the line of advance, pre-
ferring death to the terrible state of suspense and suf-
fering to which they were exposed.
They had reached the mountain on the thirtieth
of May, and in accordance with the resolve, I have
122 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
stated, they boldly commenced their advance into the
valley on the third of July. And the same night,
without molestation, they took nj) their quarters in
Kingston, on Abraham's (now Tuttle's) creek. Pat-
terson having satiated his venom by beating their
committee with iron rods, considered this, we are
to suppose, as a sufficient vent to his malice and re-
venge, and laid no further obstacles in the way of their
march.
And thus, after nearly two months of great suf-
fering, want and destitution, the settlers were again
in the valley of blood — if not within their own houses,
spared by flood, or the occupation of their enemy.
The next thought was to gather such of their
crops as still remained upon the ground. For this
purpose, as well as for measures, we may say not of
retaliation, but purely self-preservation, a company of
thirty young men associated themselves together,
their first object being to gather the crops. Armed
with the rifles and muskets which were left, and tak-
ing their farming implements, they started to gather
the crops upon the Shawnee flats. On the western
slope of Kosshill they were met by a band of Pat-
terson's men, who immediately gave them battle.
The young settlers did the best they could, but lost
in the skirmish two very promising young men,
Elisha Garret and Chester Pierce, one of whom was
a Plymouth man. Patterson's men had two wounded
and left on the field, Wilhelmus Van Gordon and
RALLY OF THE SETTLERS. 123
Henry Brink; another one of them returned to the
garrison, his broken arm swinging in his sleeve :
three or four others were wounded.
This new trouble put an end to the gathering
of the crops on Shawnee flats, the seeds of which
had been sown by the men who had returned the
previous year from the Continental battle-fields!
There was no peace.
The wanton slaughter of those two young men
produced among the settlers, in camp at Abraham's
creek, the keenest anguish, and the bitterest feeling of
revenge. How could it be otherwise ? Under a flag
of truce Patterson had decoyed some of their old
men into his clutches to gratify the black malevolence
of his heart, beating them in a cruel and barbarous
manner. He had slain some of the young men who
were going to gather the crops to save the lives of
starving women and children.
These settlers were mortal; they were subject to
the like feelings and moved by the like passions of
their race. They were now driven to a stage of des-
peration. A general rally of the settlers was the
result. Forty-two effective men and twenty old
men mustered under John Franklin, marched to
Shawnee for the purpose of exterminating the tories
who had taken possession of their lands, under the
permission of Patterson, while they were in miserable
exile upon the Delaware.
Here they found the interlopers. Brink and Yan
124 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FLYMOUTH.
Grordon. -mounded a day or two before upon Eoesliill.
These men were lielpless : they spared them. Such
would not have been the fate of two of their own
men, under hke cuTumstances, falling into the hands
of Patterson.
Captain Franklin cleaned Shawnee thoroughly
of the tory element, save the two men wounded.
They, however, never found that locaUty a veiy
agreeable residence, and I do not tind the names of
either upon any of the enrollments or assessment
lists from that time down. The probability is that
when they recovered from the wounds received upon
Eosshill. they letl: the town. In fact there can be
but httle q^uestion of that ! Plymouth had an un-
wholesome atmosphere for tories to breathe. Too
many revolutionaiy heroes lived there to make it
healthy in this particular.
After disposing of Shawnee^ Captain Frankhn
crossed the river at Xanticoke, and removed all per-
sons between there and TVilkes-Barre who had squat-
ted down upon Yankee possessions. Dm-ing them
before him. they took shelter in the garrison occu-
pied by Patterson and his men at Wilkes-Barre.
He invested the block-house and demanded a sur-
render.
So war was inaugurated anew : and it seemed that
the Connecticut settlers were tarther from the dawn
of peace than ever. Christie's and Shrawder's com-
pinies, on retiring from the valley, had left a hundred
BURNING OF TWENTY-THREE BUILDINGS. 125
and thirty stand of arms, and large quantities of am-
munition. The block-house had four cannon ; the
ancient four-pounder of the days of Stewart, and
three left by Sullivan in his expedition through the
valley. With these means of defense in the hands
of four hundred men, what could Franklin do with
the handful of old men and boys under his com-
mand ? The attempt at the investment of the fort
was desperation.
Patterson's men made a sortie from the garrison,
drove off the besiegers, and applied the brand to
twenty-three buildings in Wilkes-Barre, which were
consumed. These were of course the dwellings of
Connecticut people. And Patterson no doubt rel-
ished exceedingly the assault upon his fortifications,
as a pretext to burn out his helpless and impover-
ished enemy. Captain Franklin retired with his
people to Mill Creek ; took possession of the only
flouring mill in the settlement, kept it running day
and night, till his friends were bountifully supplied
with meal. Their wants were few, and a few pounds
of flour was a blessed affair in their limited view of
the necessaries of life.
But the stakes I have set to define the limits
of a local inquiry, will not permit me to proceed
further with this Yankee and Pennamite war. I
have culled from the controversy such incidents of it
as had an immediate bearing upon our town. To do
this intelligibly, I was forced into a statement of
126 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
the leading measures which necessarily involved onr
people.
It will be sufficient to say that the beating of
Fish and Grore with iron ramrods, and the slaughter
of Garret and Pierce upon Rosshill, swung back the
gate of war upon its creaking hinges ; and scenes of
murder, reprisals, and imprisonments were of very
frequent occurrence for the ten following years.
During the same year, 1784, thirty of the settlers
were sent in irons to the Easton jail; forty-six others
were bound with chains and cords and confined in
barns and stables in Wilkes-Barre; forty-two of these
were sent to the Northumberland jail, in both of which
places they remained a long time in captivity. Thus
we find sixty-six of the settlers at one time in prison.
And during the confinement of fathers and sons,
what shall be said of the wives and helpless children ?
Ah ! tliis is a question that cannot be answered. The
cloud of suffering has passed away, and so have the
miserable objects of pity which it covered.
Patterson, as civil magistrate, was succeeded by
Armstrong; but the change did not much improve,
if any, the iron rule of these petty tyrants. They
looked at but one side of the question, and the color-
ing of that was crimson. Extermination of the Sus-
quehanna claimants was the grand absorbing theme.
All minor questions, involving humanity, charity, and
even justice, were merged in the one grand idea of
extermination.
TIMOTHY PICKEKING. 127
The people of our town came in for their full
share. Of the sixty-two in irons in the jails of
Easton and Sunbury, one-fourth at least were people
of Plymouth.
The rich alluvial lands of Wyoming were a prize.
To hold them cost our people blood, carnage, star-
vation, and many of them death. There is no record
of the number of slaughtered men during this long-
continued struggle. It ran up to hundreds. Almost
every family contributed to the hecatomb.
Under Timothy Pickering, a man of New Eng-
land birth but Pennsylvania proclivities, matters
assumed a somewhat more peaceable character. In
his administration there were some grains of clem-
ency ; though in the end he was obliged to leave the
scene.
Matters never became finally settled till the pas-
sage of the compromising law of 1799. By this law
the Connecticut man triumphed. But the flag of his
victory waved also over the graves of his slaughtered
relatives and friends. Its fruits were bitter; but
their descendants were enriched by the toils, priva-
tions, and exposures of their ancestors.
Are they fully sensible of it 7 Do they ever pass
these exciting and bloody turmoils in review .^ Do
they look back to those fearful days, and nights, and
weeks and months, and years of the severe past ?
* Some of them may ; but I fear that the greater
majority do not realize who placed the rounds in the
128 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
ladder of tlieir elevation in wealth, nor stop to esti-
mate the cost of them.
I am by no means speaking in the way of cen-
sure ; hut if there he a Plymouth man who is to-day
in comfortable circumstances in life, whose wants are
all within the range of his means of gratification, —
and I know there are many such, — let these reminis-
cences of the past which I have grouped together and
placed before him, be a reminder of the dark days
which have preceded him.
My mother, now in her ninety-sixth year, a Con-
necticut woman, informs me that during these early
times, though not in the valley till 1790, she passed
through the wilderness between here and Connecticut
no less than eight or ten times. The little party
made up for the journey, would go on horseback,
carrying their own provisions and provender for their
horses, encamping frequently at night in the open air.
Sometimes the journey was made in consequence of
the turbulence of the times, sometimes for the pur-
pose of friendly visits to New England friends.
W-h-e-w ! ! Young ladies of Plymouth, what
would you tliink now of mounting a horse on top of a
canvas bag, with oats in one end, and pork and beans
in the other, with a journey of two hundred and
fifty miles before you, and half the way a howling
wilderness, the sky for your canopy by night, and the
music of wild, beasts your lullaby ?
Well, well, probably if the emergency arose, you
LAKGE ASSESSMENTS. 129
would have equal courage to meet the occasion — and
certainly I shall not pass judgment upon you, till you
have made the trial — and may the time never come
to require the test.
CHAPTER VI.
PENNAMITE WAR. LEGISLATION. — DECREE AT TREN-
TON. — CONFIRMING ACT. — COMPROMISE ACT.
PEACE. — JOHN FRANKLIN.
THE paper proclamations of the State of Con-
necticut, like the Pope's bull to the comet,
amounted to nothing. And yet we find that these
early settlers of Wyoming were paying large sums of
money for that period. The assessment of 1776 was
£16,996 13s — a large amount of money for the times.
The assessment made in 1780, and the first one
after the slaughter at the Wyoming hattle, was
£2,358. It is not probable that much of this money
found its way into the Connecticut treasury, but one
fact is very clearly shown, that the settlers were by
no means a bill of expense to that State.
The troops raised here for the revolutionary strug-
gle were credited to that State by the Continental
establishment. The people here mustered into the
Colonial army more than twenty to one over the
home department compared with the population.
130 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF rLYMOUTH,
Two repro!>ei\ta fives were annually eleeted from
Wyoming to the Connecticut Assembly tVom the year
1774 to 1782 inclusive. Commencing -with Zebulon
Butler and Timothy Smith, and ending with Obadiah
Grore and Jonathan Fit eh.
During these nine years the claims of the people
of Wyoming for losses, and the expenses for the erec-
tion of fortifications for their defense, made through
their representatives, generally ended in tabling the
resolves oifei-ed.
The government of Connecticut never seemed to
have exhibited that disposition to aid and defend her
Colonial establishment, in its dark houi-s and troubles,
that the necessities of the case demanded.
Litchfield county, Connecticut, is situate on the
extreme western line of the State: the town of "West-
moreland, in that county, boniers upon the line of
Xew York. This being the nearest to the Yankee
settlement on the Susquehanna, the ••' seventeen
towns," as they were called, were made a part of the
town of Westmoreland, of the State of Connecticut.
So they remained till the year 1776, when the terri-
tory was set ofi' into a separate municipal existence,
under the name of the county of Westmoreland.
It was a strange state of things, under our pres-
ent view, this repi-esentation in the Connecticut Leg-
islature trom the foicn of Westmoreland, in the
county of Litchjield, State of Connecticut^ in the Com-
monieealth of Fennsylvania !
\
DECREE OF TRENTON. 131
Congress finally, at the instance of the State of
Pennsylvania, with the concurrence of the State of
Connecticut, intervened the federal authority to ad-
just the Susquehanna troubles.
This body adopted a resolution, naming commi&-
sioners, who mot at Trenton, New Jersey, in No-
vember, 1782. The commissioners, after a protract-
ed session of forty-one days, during which the agents
and attorneys on both sides discussed at length the
subject of the troubles, decided, on the thirtieth of
December, 1782, that the State of Connecticut had
no right to the land in controversy, and that the
jurisdiction and pre-emption of all lands of right be-
longed to Pennsylvania.
To this decree, as it has always been called, the
two contending States, as well as the settlers, as-
sented.
It was supposed now upon all sides that the
troubles had found a peaceful as well as final end.
Not so, however. Those who claimed title, under the
Proprietary Government, of the land paid for by the
Connecticut settlers to the Susquehanna company,
and in pursuance of which they had taken possession,
asserted that such title had been decided in their fa-
vor by the decree at Trenton. That the commission-
ers not only decided the question of jurisdiction
and title to the land between the two States, but also
between individual claimants.
The question of individual rights, it was sup-
132 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
posed, was neither submitted to nor decided by that
tribunal. And the probability is that this was the
view taken previous to the decree by both of these
State authorities.
Jurisdiction became a fixed fact; the title to land
not occupied or claimed by purchase was also con-
ceded to be determined ; not so with land owned
and occupied by the settlers under the Susquehanna
company.
The people of the valley having reason to fear
that the State authorities might claim that personal
rights had been decided by the Commissioners at
Trenton, presented their petition to the General As-
sembly of Pennsylvania. This paper is written in
strong language, and is supposed to have emanated
from the pen of John Franklin. The composition
could not be improved in these days. The following
is an extract, which I copy from Chapman's history :
"■Wyoming, January 18, 1783.
" The Honorable Congress established a court ;
both sides were cited and appeared ; the cause was
heard for more than forty days, and the ground
stated in which each asserted their right of jurisdic-
tion. On which the court finally adjudged in favor
of Pennsylvania, by which the jurisdiction of the dis-
puted territory on which your memorialists live is
adjudged yours. By this adjudication we are under
your jurisdiction a-nd protection. We are subjects
PETITION TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 133
and free citizens of the State of Pennsylvania, and
have now to look up to your honors as our fathers,
guardians and protectors — entitled to every tender
regard and respect, as to justice, equity, liberty and
protection.
"It is impossible that the magnanimity of a
powerful and opulent State will ever condescend to
distress an innocent and brave people, that have un-
successfully struggled against the ills of fortune.
We care not under what State we live, if we live
protected and happy. We will serve you, we will
promote your interests, we will fight your battles ; but
in mercy, goodness, wisdom, justice, and every great
and generous principle, leave us our possessions, the
dearest pledge of our brothers, children and fathers,
which their hands have cultivated, and their blood,
spilt in the cause of their country, enriched."
It will be observed that this memorial, couched in
strong and respectful language, does not yield the
question of their title. And the old veterans were in
the right. The law was with them.
Franklin set out for Annapolis on the second of
May of the following year, where Congress was in
session, carrying with him a petition of like import
for the consideration of that body. I quote from his
venerable and almost obliterate diary, lying on the
table before me :
" May 2d, 1784, 1 set out for Annapolis with a x>e-
134 EISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLTMOITTn.
tition to Congress, setting forth our situation, and
praying to be made quiet in our possessions ; went in
a canoe.
'•Mondar, 3d, went to Middletown.
"' Tuesday, 4tli, left my canoe at Conawago Falls,
and traTelled by land twelve miles below Little
York.
■■• Wednesday, 5th, went within six miles of Bal-
timore.
" Thursday, 6th, went on board a schooner at Bal-
timore.
••' Friday morning, the 7th, arrived at Annapolis,
and put np at Mr. Brenner's. I found Esquire Sher-
man and Greneral Wadsworth ; gave my petition to
Esqnire Sherman, which was laid before Congress,
and referred to a committee that had been appointed
upon a motion for suspending the loy ■^" * * (obHt.).
•• The 10th, wrote a letter to His Excellency, the
Groremor of Connecticut, in which I gave an account
of the proceedings of the State of Pennsylyania
towards us. irom the decree of Trenton to this time.
Sent it by Mr. Grilmore.
"Wednesday, 19th, left Annapolis and set off
for Sunbury. I got no business completed iu Con-
gress.
'• On Tuesday, 25th, I arrived at Sunbury ; the
Court of Quarter Sessions beiug held ; met Mr. Ma-
son and Eansom. and a number of others ; they in-
formed me that on the 12th the troops at Wyoming
APPOINTMENT OF THREE COMMISSIONEES. 135
and Patterson's party disarmed the Connecticut set-
tlers."
The Commissioners of Trenton had no power
over personal rights. They had power over jurisdic-
tion and title to land not appropriated. The ques-
tion of pre-emption they decided. This was proper;
and this applied to lands not located or claimed. Pre-
emption means the exclusive first right to buy. The
Connecticut settler had bought his land, paid for it,
and located upon it. It became a personal vested
right, and so he regarded it ; and he was justified in
holding on, and he did hold on, and he held on to
some purpose.
The response to the memorial by the Greneral As-
sembly of the State was the appointment of three
Commissioners to visit Wyoming, "to examine the
state of the country, to act as magistrates, and to
recommend what measures the government should
adopt in relation to the settlers."
These Commissioners, entirely under the influence
of the Pennsylvania claimants, after visiting the val-
ley and making what they deemed a general inquiry
and examination, reported to the State government:
" That reasonable compensation, in land, should be
made to the families of those who had fallen in arms
against the common enemy, and to such other settlers
as had a proper Connecticut title, and did actually
reside on the land at the time of the decree at
Trenton ; provided they immediately relinquish all
136 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
claim to tlio soil they now inluibit, and enter into
contract to deliver np fnll and q^^it^^ possession of
their present tenures to the rightful owners, under
Pennsylvania, by the fii-st of April next."
And liere was the cause of the terrible prelude to
those successive acts of inhumanity the following
year, and which instigated persecutions, and impris-
onments, and bloodshed, and murder, in quick suc-
cession, overspreading the entire valley, and which
continued for yeai-s.
First came the civil magistrate, Patterson, with
his two armed companies under Christie and Shraw-
der, with instructions '•' to march to Wyoming, and
take every proper measure for maintaining the post
there, and for pkotecting the settlement. I under-
score the word protecting. The original order con-
tained no such ear-mark.
These gentlemen were on the ground within a
month after the report of tlie Commissioners. Under
tlie sanctity of the law, and for the jprotection of the
settlement, those acts of brutality on the part of Pat-
terson were intlicted which I have already mentioned,
some of them being extracts from Franklin's diary.
Strange protection was that in robbing the poor
settlei"S of- their fishing-nets ; tearing down their
fences, burning their buildings, and driving five hun-
dred helpless old men, women and children at the
point of the bayonet through a howling wilderness,
some of whom died by the wayside of starvation and
INSOLENCE OF THE SOLDIERS. 137
exposure ! Protection indeed; the protection the
wolf extends to the hinib, tlie falcon to the sparrow.
From the nionient the civil magistrate, Patterson,
and his two companies of armed soldiers arrived, the
settler realized his position. He made an effort to
accept the new situation, but this was in vain, unless
ho surrendered his home and his fields, and abandoned
the valley.
I have had it from the mouth of old Mr. Abraham
Nesbitt, who lived many years and died on the spot
where Mr. Love's house now stands, that the insolence
of these soldiers was intolerable; and that they did
no act of indecency or impiopriety shocking to civil-
ization, that even elicited a reprimand from Patter-
son when informed of it.
They were instructed to treat a Yankee with any
kind of abuse; and such conduct was the cause of
praise and approbation upon the part of their com-
mander.
The Legislature of the State began to understand
that a whole community of people, now numbering —
men, women and children — two or three thousand,
ought not to be annihilated, and particularly when
the public sentiment was running strongly in their
favor throughout the commonwealth; that the decree
at Trenton might not bear the construction, that
private rights were involved in, and had been decided
by, the Commissioners under the resolve of Congress.
Some of the wiser heads, and with more human-
138 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
ity in tlionglit and action, did not relish the remark
■which Patterson had made in a commnnication to the
Executive Coimcil on the twenty-ninth of April, two
or three weeks after the disastrous ice tlood, and some
two weeks before the inhuman creature expelled so
large a number from the Talley, burning their homes
and destroying their crops, " that it must not be con-
strued into a Avant of zeal or lore for the Common-
wealth, if he should, through dire necessity, be obliged
to do some things not strictly consonant with the let-
ter of the law."
"When the news of the terrible suffering of the
poor settlers came, in hot sjpeed, from thousands of
disinterested people residing along both sides of the
Delaware, for fifty miles in extent, the legislator be-
gan to know what he meant by '^' some things" done
under a sense of '"' dire necessity, and not consonant
with the letter of the law."
Humanity screeched out from one end of the
broad Commonwealth to the other, and the echo was
taken up, and it went from hill top to hill top
throughout the whole land. A great WTong had been
perpetrated, and justice demanded redress.
As time moved on public sentiment underwent
change — so that the Assembly of the State, which
convened in 17S7, was prepared for an effort to accom-
modate affairs in Wyoming, that peace might reign
and the flowing of blood cease.
Dming this year the people of the seventeen town-
PASSAGE OF THE CONFIRMING LAW. 139
ships concluded to propose to the Legislature a plan
for the adjustment of difficulties.
The townships known and designated as the " sev-
enteen," were Salem, Newport, Hanover, "Wilkes-
Barre, Pittston, Kingston, Northmoreland, Braintrim,
Plymouth, Bedford, Exeter, Huntington, Providence,
Putnam, Springfield, Claverack and Ulster. The
four latter being within the present territory of
Bradford and Susquehanna counties.
The substance of this proposition, embraced in a
memorial to the Legislature, and read in that body
in March, 1787, was, that if the Commonwealth
would grant them the land within the " seventeen "
townships, and on which settlements had been com-
menced previous to the decree of Trenton, in 1782,
they would, on their part, relinquish all claim to any
other lands within the Susquehanna purchase.
Coupled with this proposition was another condition,
that the Pennsylvania claimants who held conflicting
warrants and surveys within the townships, should
relinquish their title to them, and the money paid be
refunded to them by the State. I may add that
these warrants and surveys were generally in the
hands of land jobbers and speculators, and had not
been reduced to residence and occujDation.
The Legislature, on the twenty-eighth of March,
1787, accepted this proposition, and passed an enact-
ment generally known as the confirming law.
It was hailed pretty generally as a pacific measure,
140 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLTMOUTH.
and really seemed to be a pretty fair adjustment.
But the trouble still in the way, was that the set-
tlers outside of the "17" towns, and claiming by the
same title as those within, were not recognized un-
der the hberal provisions of the confirming act.
It was as a kind of moderator under this law, for
the purpose of quieting matters, with the commissions
of the court offices in his pocket, that brought Timo-
thy Pickering into the valley.
The great majority of the Connecticut people re-
sided within the " 17 " townships — but still a consid-
erable number did not, and that made a determined
opposition to the confirming law. They contended
that they were as worthy of protection as their breth-
ren, whose farms happened to be within these town-
ships. Such undoubtedly was the fact, and the error
was that the enactment did not include them. It
was possibly an oversight, and in many instances these
people were imder the impression that they were
within the certified township lines, and were only un-
deceived by an actual survey upon the ground.
The people of Plymouth had no cause to com-
plain of the law, and did not, save that their sympa-
thies were with their Connecticut friends, who may
be called outsiders. There may have been excep-
tions.
For the first time now the Connecticut people pre-
sented a di\-ided front, and the feelings of acrimony
and ill-will extended very generally among them.
TIMOTHY PICKERING AND JOHN FRANKLIN. 141
The Pennsylvania claimants taking advantage of this
family quarrel, and Timothy Pickering having been
taken a prisoner from his home by a party of turbu-
lent settlers, to be held as a hostage for the exchange
of John Franklin, who was at the time a prisoner in
Philadelphia upon a charge of treason for opposing
the confirming laAv, the Legislature suspended the
law in the way of a menace. But this did not have
the desired effect, and the consequence was the repeal
of the law soon afterwards.
Chaos was once more the order of the day, and
the question again rested upon the award of the
Trenton Commissioners. But the same discord did
not prevail. Luzerne county was now established;
the majority of the people vsdthin it were Connecticut
settlers; the new constitution of the State was more
liberal than the Proprietary establishment, under the
Penns : they now elected their own members to the
Legislature, as well as the county and township offi-
cers. They had the matter therefore pretty much in
their own hands.
And although nearly ten years passed before a def-
inite compromise, bloodshed, imprisonments, and re-
prisals had ceased. The conflict assumed more of a
political complexion, and the elections were not un-
frequently conducted in a most boisterous and turbu-
lent manner.
But the settlers would elect their assemblymen,
and they therefore had a friend at court.
142 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Finally, in 1799, and nearly thirty years after the
commencement of the troubles growing out of this
Pennamite and Yankee difficulty, the whole question
was arranged in the passage by the Legislature of
the " Compromise Law."
Under the terms of this enactment, commission-
ers were appointed to cause a survey to be made of all
the lands claimed by the Connecticut settlers within
the seventeen townships previous to the decree of
Trenton, in which titles had been granted to them,
according to the rules and regulations among them.
They were to classify and value these lands, and give
certificates to the owners, upon the presentation of
which, to the secretary of the land-office, on the pay-
ment of a small sum as purchase-money, a patent
was granted by the State. The purchase-money to
be paid was for the first class, $2.00 an acre; for the
second, $1.20 ; for the third, 50 cents ; and eight
and one fourth cents for the fourth class.
The lands of the Pennsylvania claimants were
also to be ascertained and valued, and where they
came in conflict with the claim of the Connecticut
man, they were required to relinquish their title to
the State and receive from the Treasury, in full com-
pensation for land of the first class, $5.00 an acre,
$3.00 for the second, $1.50 for the third, and twenty-
five cents for the fourth.
As soon as forty thousand acres should thus be
released to the State by the Pennsylvania claimants,
END OF THE CONTEOVERSY. 143
and the Connecticut claimants, wlio owned an equal
quantity, should bind themselves to submit to the
law, to the satisfaction of the commissioners, then
the act was to take effect.
This, then, provided for the settlers within the
" 17 " townships : and the minority ohtside, as is the
usual case with minorities, had to fight their battle
in the best way they could; but as none of these
were residents of Plymouth, it is not my purpose to
examine the subject further.
And so ended the Pennamite and Yankee contro-
versy. Both sides accepted the terms of the act of
1799, and it still quietly reposes upon the statute
book, not obsolete from age precisely, but in a meas-
ure a dead letter, for all the troubles it was desifirned
to heal have been long since disposed of, and the
actors in the busy scenes connected with them have
passed from the stage.
As many as forty years ago, when I came to the
Luzerne bar, it was rare that a case came into the
court that required to be decided under the provis-
ions of the law of 1799.
The Yankee surveys, and particularly those on
the east side of the river, were strangely located.
They commenced upon the bank of the stream, and
extended to the top of the mountain. They were
some forty rods wide, and in some cases five miles
long. The mountain end frequently at an elevation
of fifteen hundred feet above the other on the plain.
9
144 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
They tliiis had all varieties of soil, and almost of
climate.
The Yankee idea, as they expressed it, was a
" streak of fat and a streak of lean " in each lot.
Nathan Beach, of Salem, and whom I knew well,
and for whom I procured a pension for Revolutionary
services as long ago as 1832, told me that the settlers'
price for one of these lots was a horse, saddle and
bridle. The young Yankee, therefore, who could be-
come owner of these, could, on Ms arrival here from
Connecticut, exchange them for a lot. Some of these
same lots are worth to-day one hundred thousand
dollai^s.
The Plymouth surveys were on a smaller scale.
The house and meadow lots, as they are termed in the
certificates, vary from ten to twenty acres. This land
being regarded remarkably valuable, was subdivided
into small slices. The most of Kingston, in the days
of the Wyoming battle, was a pine plain.
I can remember myself when that part of it above
the village of Troy, or Wyoming, was mostly covered
with pitch pines. — Shawnee flat was a prairie when
the white man took possession of it.
I cannot conclude the sad story of the Wyoming
troubles, growing out of the conflict between the
Pennsylvania and Connecticut jurisdiction, without a
biographical sketch of one of the great and acknowl-
edged leaders of the Connecticut settlers. The man
of probably the largest intellect and most persevering
energy.
JOHN FRANKLIN. 145
John Feanklin was tliis personage. And it is a
matter of much satisftiction to me that I am able to
classify this distinguished character among the first
settlers of Plymouth. It is true that he remained
there less than a year before removing to Huntington
township, where he made his permanent abode.
Mr. Jameson Harvey, now an aged man, informs
me that Franklin and his father were very intimate
friends ; that Franklin never passed his father's
house, in travelling to and from Wilkes-Barre, then
the principal rendezvous of the Connecticut people,
without stopping, and generally arranged his journey
so as to stay over night; that he has very often heard
him, among other narratives of his adventures, speak
of his immigration, and where he first settled.
Mr. Harvey represents him as a tall, muscular,
well-built man, with wonderful developments of phys-
ical power. He leaned slightly forward in his walk,
but moved with a firm step.
Mr. Charles Miner makes him six feet in height;
Mr. Harvey, six feet four inches. From the accounts
of both, he seems to have been a man of Herculean
frame, and possessing strong muscles and sinews. This
we may readily understand when we learn that it re-
quired the united strength of four men to hold and
bind him with cords when arrested for treason (?)
and sent off to the Philadelphia prison. All of the
early settlers, from whom I have gathered information,
in years gone by, represent him as a " tall, square-
146 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
shouldered man/' and endowed witli great physical
power.
He wns a native of Canaan, Litchfield county,
Connecticut. He came with his wife and children to
Plymouth ia 1774. He had brothers who either im-
migrated with him, or about the same time, to the
valley. One of them, as already stated, fell at the
battle of Xanticoke the year after. Some of the
femily settled m Hanover at a very early day. I am
unable to ascertain if Eoswell, Jr. and Arnold Frank-
lin were brothers to John. The probability is that
they were not.
Eoswell and Arnold were taken prisoners by the
Indians, in Hanover, in September, 1781. The
spring following the wife and four children of Eos-
well were also carried oif by them into captivity. The
wife of Eoswell was murdered by the Indians in an
attempt to rescue the prisoners.
In the spring of 1775 John Franklin entered, sol-
itary and alone, the wilderness ; and upon the banks
of Hunting-ton ci-eek, in the territory now embraced
within the township of that name, made his " pitch."
Having circumscribed the limits of his claim by
notching and blazing the bark of trees, he knocked up
some turf with the pole of his axe, and these were
the formahties appropriating the forest : this was his
waiTant of entry.
!^s^o white man had preceded him in this vicinity.
He was the first ; and the unmolested choice of the vir-
JOHN FRANKLIN. 147
gin soil, that had never been turned up by the 2ilough-
share, or impressed by the white man's foot, was
spread out before him, and here he made his selection
and dedicated his future home. His faithful dog, the
only witness to this act of possession, and his rifle,
leaning against a tree hard-by, the only battery of
his defense.
The man who had the courage and personal brav-
ery to do all this, possessed the qualifications to fill
the places of trust that were in years afterwards con-
ferred upon him.
During the summer of that year he chopped over
and cleared off some three or four acres, sowed it
with grain, erected his log hut, and was now ready for
the introduction of his wife and Httle children to
their home in the woods.
His nearest neighbor was at the Susquehanna
river, a distance of some seven or eight miles. " In
that year he came up to take a round in Plunket's
battle," and returned to his wild home again when it
was over; a little variety in his life, the incidents of
that affair, compared with the peace and quiet which
reigned amid the forest about his new home.
And thus we find the resolute man engaged, whose
capacious intellect, in succeeding years, dispelled the
sophistry concealed in the Trenton decree, and whose
untiring energy and iron will gave cast and coloring
to the almost helpless Yankee cause.
The same, too, whose persuasive language and
1-iS HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FLYMOUTH.
solid arguments before the legislative body, in after
years, gave legal form to tlie conclusions of his own
well-balanced and discriminating mind. The man of
the people ; the man for the people. The tall ami
stately form, whether at the head of his company,
driving the Tories before him out of Plymouth ;
taking his oath of revenge against his persecutors
upon the rifle, all stained with the heart's blood of his
friend; bound in chains as a traitor, for serving his
people but too well; at the head of his company,
under Sullivan, exterminating the enemy who had
covered the TTyoming battle-field with his slaughtered
relatives and friends, or pleading the case of his af-
flicted associates, ever loomed up, and was the object
of love, affection, and the profoimdest veneration by
the Connecticut settlers of "Wyoming.
In the following spring of 177(3, he installed his
wife and children in the primitive home he had pre-
pared for them. Even at this time his was the only
family in the township. He resided there up to the
time of his arrest and imprisonment at Philadelphia.
Sometime after his release he moved to Bradtord
county, but still witliin the '' 17 " towns, where he
spent the remainder of his life, and died in 1831, at
the advanced age of eighty-two years. Some of his
children remained in Huntington, and members of
the family still reside there.
His wife died within two or three years after his
settlement in Huntington. I make the following ex-
JOHN FRANKLIN. 149
tract from Mr. Miner's history. He says : " Not
long after his removal to Wyoming, his wife died,
leaving three small children, one an infant of a week
old. Having no person to take care of them, he deter-
mined to place them in charge of his kind friends in
Canaan. Harnessing a horse to a little cart, he put
in the three children, tied a cow by the horns to fol-
low, and drove on, having a cup in which, as occasion
required, he milked and fed the babe. Thus he trav-
elled the rough way, more than two hundred miles, in
safety, exhibiting all the patience and tenderness that
might be expected from a mother."
There cannot be much doubt but that this man,
and more particularly after the first ten years of his
residence here, was the leading, controlling spirit of
the Yankee people.
No one questioned his bravery; no one doubted
his integrity and honesty; while they all relied on his
sound and well-balanced judgment. It is true that he
differed with some of them as to the propriety of ac-
cepting the confirming law of 1787, but while there
was this difference, the view that John Franklin took
of the question was the one which ultimately pre-
vailed. To it the opinions of statesmen, of jurists,
and of laymen, were forced to give place.
Upon that question there was ground for an hon-
est difference of opinion. At a meeting, in which an
angry debate occurred, held in Wilkes-Barre, on
the propriety of acquiescing in this law. Judge Hoi-
150 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
lenback struck a blow at his head with a loaded
whip, which he had at the time in his hand. Great
confusion ensued, and came near ending in an open
fight. But this did by no means put down the old
hero; it onlj^ added new converts to his side. The
judge, who was a passionate man, and easily excited,
afterwards made ample apologies.
Franklin was on his voyage, in his canoe, to meet
Congress at Annapolis, when Patterson expelled the
Connecticut people from the valley in 1784. I have
stated that after the return of these people they en-
camped in Kingston, upon Abraham's creek. Here
they immediately erected four large log tenements,
for the double purpose of occupation and defense.
Armstrong, who had succeeded Patterson, — and in
this exchange matters were not very much improved,
— made an attack upon these houses with an armed
force. They were gallantly defended, and the besieg-
ing party compelled to retreat. An intimate friend,
however, of Franklin, William Jackson, was seriously
wounded. Seeing his comrade in what he supposed
a dying condition, Franklin, then captain, as he had
been promoted to the command of the fortification,
seized the rifle from the hands of Jackson, covered
with the blood from Ms wounds, and summoning his .
companions around him in the log hut, with his eyes
elevated to heaven, and his right hand upon his heart,
solemnly took upon himself an oath —
''That he ivoidd never lay clown his arms until
fkanklin's oath. 151
death sJiould arrest his hand, or Patterson and
Armstrong he expelled from Wyoming ; the people
restored to their rights of possession ; and a legal
trial guaranteed to every citizen hy the Constitution,
hy justice, and by law."
This scene, wlien we reflect upon the tall figure
of the excited and angry man; the nature of his
oath; the terrihle cause of provocation; the group of
ragged, famished men about him; the silence, save
only the voice of imprecation; the visages of sorrow,
hope, fear and revenge variously reflected from the
audience ; makes our blood tingle and thrill through
our veins.
We being thus impressed, after a long lapse of
time, at the rehearsal only, what must have been the
impulses and feelings of those who were actors in the
drama ?
In this transaction we read the heart of Franklin,
and learn the brave and determined character of the
man. His position was established now among his
associates ; he had fully defined his status. The ef-
fect of the oath upon the bloody rifle had brought
out a full development; he saw in himself, and so did
his men, his future position — the leader of the cause.
His nine previous years of training had culminated.
He stood before them the head of the line.
Not long after this, "at a parade in Shawnee,"
Captain Franklin was unanimously elected colonel
of the regiment. By common consent he was now
152 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
their cliosen and revered cHef, and upon liim were
centred all the aftection and confidence that the
soldiers of the Revolution had ever reposed in Wash-
ington.
Henceforward he was their agent, their chief man-
ager, their representative, their advocate, and their
bosom companion. And probably no man ever be-
came so familiar with his associates, and yet at the
same time retained their respect. He could let him-
self down, but his dignity of character was sustained
in the exalted qualities of his heart.
Mr. Miner thinks "that he could make no pre-
tensions to eloquence; yet he rarely failed to com-
mand attention, even from the learned and accom-
plished; earnest, often vehement, and his whole soul'
seemed to be in the matter he discussed."
I don't want to take issue with Charles Miner. I
have a great regard for his opinions. I honor and
revere his memory. But I think in the above para-
graph he has pretty well defined oratory.
What is eloquence .^ The utterance of strong
emotion; the power of persuasion; elevated, forcible
thought; well chosen language, and an impassioned
manner. Most of these quahties Colonel Franklin
possessed, and to a large degree.
The language of his memorial to the legislature,
which we have already recorded, and his oath upon
the bloody rifle, are specimens of the highest order of
eloquence. It cannot, of course, be said that he can
i
JOHN FRANKLIN. 153
be measured by the standard of men like Burke or
Clay, wbose choice language, lofty tones, refined sen-
tences, an impassioned delivery, furnish models of
their kind for the world; but it can be said of Frank-
lin, as of Paul before Felix, that when he spoke there
was silence, and men trembled.
The few specimens left us of his legislative efforts
show a thorough comprehension of his subject, and
a bold, fearless course of argument. No tropes, no
figures, but great solidity of matter and concentration
of thought. They may be classed as solid and com-
mon-sense productions.
He possessed but the rude elements of education,
and lacked a want of the knowledge of the proper gram-
matical construction of sentences. What the schools
had not supplied, God Almighty had.
The general features of the compromising law
of 1799, and which were the panacea of Wyoming
troubles, were mostly the result of his labors. He
was a member of the general assembly of that year,
and he made his mark. For these services he was
continued a representative for the four succeeding
ones, ending in 1803.
The members for the county for the three preced-
ing years, were Ebenezer Bowman and Koswell Wells,
both men of very respectable standing at the Luzerne
bar; Mr. Wells, particularly, had a very good reputa-
tion as an orator. They both failed, however, in ef-
fecting a compromise of the Wyoming struggle.
154 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH,
This work was reserved for Colonel Franklin, and he
acconiplished the task.
It was the crowning act of his life. He lived not
only to see peace restored, as the result of Iris O'^ti
labor, but he had the proud and triumphant satisfac-
tion of seeing it established upon his own basis; and
upon a theory, too, for which he had at one time con-
tended, against the opinions of eminent lawyers and
many of the Connecticut settlers, among whom were
several who had been leaders at an earher day. The
eifect of the decree at Trenton as decisive of title to
lands thus became abrogated, and the principles of
that same confirming law, for opposition to which he
had undergone an imprisonment of six mouths in the
Philadelphia jail, were also abandoned.
Colonel Franklin triumphed, and the flag of the
Connecticut settlers, which had long trailed in the
dust, went to the head of the staff.
The acts of his treason found ample and full just-
ification with the legislative power of the State — and
so his crimes became virtues.
At this period the Legislative body met at Lan-
caster. There were no pubhc stage coaches; the con-
dition of the roads forbade their use, the members
Were accustomed to go and return on horseback;
they could not travel either, for the same reason, in
private carnages, and if they could, they were gener-
ally too poor to own them.
It was the custom of Frankliii to walk with the
JOHN FRANKLIN, 155
bridle rein over his arm, liis horse following after,
with a huge jiortmanteau on his back, filled with his
clothes, books, and papers. The people along the
road became accustomed to the tall, athletic figure
known as the man who travelled " a foot on horse-
back; " and as they could easily recognize him at a
distance, would exclaim, " there comes Franklin, the
great Yankee hero ! "
After the conclusion of his services in the assem-
bly, he retired from public life. But his home was
always the resort of the old settlers; many of- them
would make him annual visits. He had a wonderful
memory, and treasured up all the incidents, adven-
tures, and anecdotes of the eventful times in th.e val-
ley, in most of which he had participated, and even
up to the close of his checkered life, delighted to
dwell upon them in his conversations.
And when he gave his last breath, there died the
head and front of the Yankee column. But he had
lead it to victory, and his heart had been cheered with
the shouts of triumph.
CHAPTER YII.
KEVOLUTIOXAKY WAK. FATRIOTISM. CAFTAIN DUR-
KEE'S and captain ransom's companies. GAR-
RISON HILL. OUR MEN UNDER FIRE. WASHINcV
TON'S OPINION OF THEM. BATTLE OF WT03IIN0.
MR. WASHBURN'S STATEMENT.
IT has been stated that the enrolment of the set-
tlers of Wyoming, in the handwriting of Colonel
Zelnilon Butler, in 1773, contained but two hundred
and sixteen names. Ther are called settlers : it was
probably the number of men who were capable of
bearing arms.
The whole effective force of the Taller was prob-
ably assembled on the reception of the news of Plun-
ket's adyance, in December, 1775. Tliis was an excit-
ing occasion, which affected every one of the Connec-
ticut settlers, and it is to be presumed they were all
out. All the local authorities fix the number in that
battle at about three himdred.
On the Declaration of Independence, the fourth
of July following, the whole fighting force of the val-
ley did not exceed four hundred men. Mr. Miner
estimates the entire population at that time at twen-
ty-five hundred. He is probably not far out of the
way. (l-3!i)
PATRIOTISM. ■ 157
Congress had declared war; the tocsin of rebellion
had been sounded, and Wyoming was expected to do
her duty. She responded nobly. On the twenty-
fourth of August, 1776, " at a town meeting legally
warned and held in Westmoreland, Wilkes-Barre
district, Colonel Butler was chosen moderator for y^
work of y^ day."
'•'Voted, as the opinion of this meeting, that it
now becomes necessary for the inhabitants of this
town to erect suitable forts, as a defense against our
common enemy."
Sites were accordingly fixed on in Pittston, Hano-
ver, Plymouth, and Wilkes-Barre. Forty Fort, in
Kingston, was to be repaired and enlarged.
The meeting closed after adopting the following
vote: " That we do recommend it to the people to
proceed, forthwith, in building said forts, without
either fee or reward from y" town."
From the fourth of July to the fourth of August,
thirty days, and the people of Westmoreland were in
council, and ready to begin the campaign at their own
expense.
The people of old Plymouth at once commenced
operations, and erected their fort upon "Garrison
Hill." And they piled up with their strong hands,
and with willing hearts, the walls of their fortress,
'■'■without any fee or reward from y^ toivn."
Their heart was in the sacred cause of liberty.
Our people were but carrying out those imperishable
158 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
principles wliicli liad driven their ancestors from Lon-
don to Leyden; from Leyden to Plyrc.outli Eock; to
Plymouth in Connecticut, and thence to Plymouth
on the shores of the Susquehanna. The first genera-
tions endured persecution, imprisonment, and death
for religious liberty: their children in the vast wilds
of Pennsylvania, with the same blood coursing in their
veins, the same haughty and independent carriage,
were now building up the breast-works of civil liberty.
And they went at it in earnest : the metal was in them.
The old Puritan blood boiled; and to a man they ral-
lied around the tri-colored flag.
Captain Samuel Kansom hauled the first log of
the garrison, and old Benjamin Harvey planted the
first flag upon the turret ! An effigy of Greorge III.
was hung up by the neck, and Yankee Doodle, upon
the drum and fife, concluded the ceremonies of instal-
lation.
Men of Plymouth, is there to-day one of twenty
amongst you that can point out the spot where this
exciting scene occurred ? No Fourth of July sun
should hereafter be permitted to send his morning
rays over the town without gilding the tri-colors,
flung to the breeze, from a flag-staff on Grarrison Hill.
See to this !
Congress being informed of the exposed condition
of the valley to predatory Indian tribes, and its loca-
tion being comparatively nearer to the Canadian
frontier, passed a resolution on the twenty-third of
APPOINTMENT OF OFFICEES. 159
August, and the day only preceding tlie town meet-
ing in Westmoreland, directing —
^^ Two companies on the Continental establishment
to be raised in the town of Westmoreland, and sta-
tioned in proper places for the defense of the inhab-
itants of said town and parts adjacent, till further
order of Congress ; the commanding officers of the
said two companies to be immediately appointed by
Congress."
This resolve, however, was coupled with a strange
and inexplicable condition, and which was within
four months afterwards made available, certainly
against every princi23le of justice. The only plea that
can be put in by way of extenuation is that of neces-
sity. This, it is said, knows no law.
This condition was, " that the said troops be en-
listed to serve during the war, unless sooner dis-
charged by Congress ; " and further, " that they be
liable to serve in any part of the United States."
On the twenty-sixth of August Congress appoint-
ed Eobert Durkee, of Wilkes-Barre, and Samuel
Kansom, of Plymouth, captains for the companies to
be raised, and also their respective subalterns.
It was mutually agreed between the two commis-
sioned officers, that Captain Durkee should take the
east side of the river for the enlistment of his compa-
ny, and Captain Eansom the west.
They immediately commenced mustering men, and
notwithstanding the severe terms prescribed by Con-
10
IbO HISTOKICAL SKF.TCIIF.S OF PLYMOUTH.
gress, witliin sixty days tliey each had their comple-
ment of eighty -tlnir uieu. Tliis rapid enlistment of
so large a proportiop of the people was, nndonbtedly,
etfeoted nuder the impression that the companies
*• icere to he sfafioncil in j^trajpt r j>hic€s /or the diftnse
of the inhabitants." Upon no other principle c^\n it
be possibly accounted for, as we shall see that this
included nearly half of the population of the valley
capable of bearing arms. And had there been the
least pix^pect or intimation that they were to be
transferred to the general service, leaving their friends
and families to be slaughtered, as did afterwards occiu-,
they would never have put themselves willingly into
such a position. Nor did the cause justify such a sac-
rifice.
They relied upon the clause of the resolution that
their location was to be within the valley and for
"<^c defense of the inhahitants." In tlus view, how-
ever, they were sorely, and as it turned out, fatally
disappointed.
On the twelfth of December following. Congress
resolved : '■ That the two companies raised in the
town of Westmoreland, be ordered to join Washing-
ton icith all j^>ossihIe e^vpedifion."
Before two months elapsed they were under his
immediate command. And thus the people of the
valley were in that helpless and exposed condition
which soon after iuviteil the northern invasion of
British, Indians, aiid Tories, which deluged the val-
ENLISTMENT OF COMPANIES. 161
ley with blood, leaving its red marks upon almost
every hearth-stone in Westmoreland,
Previous to the raising of the companies of Cap-
tains Durkee and Ransom, Wisner and Strong, two
recruiting officers had enlisted for the service thirty
men. Adding these to the two companies of Dur-
kee and Ransom, and we find that of the four hun-
dred fighting men of the valley, one hundred and
ninety-eight are enrolled in the Colonial service. And
this a-U transpires within six months after the Decla-
ration of Independence. Had the authorities of the
new government, throughout the limits of the States,
mustered a corresponding complement of men, Wash-
ington would have had an army of a hundred and
fifty thousand, in the place of forty thousand.
No spot of ground of the same extent, and con-
taining the same number of people, made anything
like such a contribution. One half of the whole pop-
ulation of the valley, capable of bearing arms, are in
the short period of six months transferred from their
exposed homes upon a savage frontier to the national
camp. It remains for history to justify the action of
Congress in thus exposing the people of this valley
to the scene of horror which resulted from this pro-
ceeding. Humanity and justice are now groping in
the dark for a solution of the question. A satisfac-
tory reason will never be attained, and the pursuit
may as well be abandoned. The resolution of Con-
gress, holding out the pretext that these two compa-
Lx
162 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
nies were "fo be_phtced/or the defense of the inlidbi-
tantSj" was a trap; the unsuspecting settlers took the
bait, and murder, rapine, and the extermination of
almost a whole community of people, were the conse-
quence. But the error, upon the part of the citizens
in volunteering, had been committed, and there was
no remedy to cure it. The national arm had been
strengthened ; but the stout hand that could firmly
resist the combined predatory bands of savage, Brit-
ish and Tory invaders, was paralyzed. The defense-
less homes were thus made the inviting lure of a
relentless and terrible foe.
. And in this hour of trial, in these days of gloom,
and amid these clouds of despondency, what was the
position of Connecticut ? Ah ! she was but a foster
mother at best. She stood aloof in action and saw
her child divided by the sword.
The two companies of troops raised in her town
of Westmoreland, two hundred miles from her border,
and far from the hearing of the wails of women and
children, in a strictly business loay, were entered to
her credit, as a part of the quota of the military force
which Congress exacted of her. She should have
sent to the frontier two hundred armed men for the
support and protection of the people of her town
of Westmoreland. In this there would have been
justice and reason. Connecticut always acted in a
penurious and selfish manner with her people of
this valley. She refused aid and assistance to-
APPEALS FOR ASSISTANCE. 163
wards compensating the poor settlers in their losses
in the Plunket invasion. John Jenkens and
Solomon Strong, who were the representatives of
Westmoreland the year succeeding the Nanticoke
battle, prepared a bill and urged it upon the consid-
eration of the Assembly, but it was laid upon the
table, and there suffered to sleep. A like application
was made after the ice-flood, which destroyed an im-
mense amount of property, but it shared the same
fate as the Plunket bill. And within my own recol-
lection, when we were all making a strong effort to
erect a monument upon the "Wyoming battle-field, in
commemoration of the brave men whose bones still
repose there, a committee, with Charles Miner at the
head, visited the legislature of that State, humbly
asking the bestowal of a mite for that noble purpose;
but they failed to get a farthing. Ever ready to
avail herself of the people of Westmoreland, to fill
up the military requisition, but always turning a
deaf ear to the petition for alms, education, defenses,
and memorial columns.
A hundred years have now elapsed since she
claimed jurisdiction over the valley, and we can afford
to talk out, and talk plainly.
How stands the Revolutionary record of our old
town of Plymouth ? What res2:)onse had her sons to
make to Captain Samuel Ransom, when his drum
beat for recruits ? The roll of the Second Independ-
ent Company was immediately filled up, and nearly
164 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
oiie-lialf of the eighty-four men were residents of the
to^Yn.
It woukl be a subject of gratification at this re-
mote day to know where Captain Eansom had his
headquarters. It was undoubtedly at Forty Fort or
Garrison HiU. As he was a resident of the town,
then occupying the same site where now stands the
oki. red house, fast falling to ruins, and so long the
residence of liis son, the late Colonel Greorge P. Ean-
som in after years, that Garrison Hill was the ren-
dezvous of his recruits. But this is conjecture mere-
ly, as much more of our early history might be, if
permitted to rest much longer without the eftorts to
collect and save the fragments.
It is pretty difficult to ascertain a majority of the
names of the men which made up Captain Eansom's
roll, and who were Plymouth people.
The foUowiug I think were : Caleb Atherton,
Mason F. Alden, Isaac Benjamin, Oliver Bennett,
Benjamin Clark, Nathan Church, Pierce Cooper,
Daniel Franklin, Charles Gaylord, Ambrose Gaylord,
Timothy Hopkins, Benjamin Harvey, Asahcl Nash,
Ebenezer Eoberts, George P. Eansom, Samuel Saw-
yer, Asa Sawyer, John Swift, Thomas Williams and
Aziba Williams. To these twenty we may add the
names of Jeremiah Coleman, Jesse Coleman, Nathan-
iel Evans, Samuel Tubbs, and James Gould — total,
in the two companies, twenty-five men. The name
of Benjamin Harvey appears upon the roll of Captain
THE OLD EANSOBI HOUSE.
1
durkef/b and ransom's companies. 165
DLirku(5; but Mr. Jarnos Ilurvoy, IiIh grandson, in-
forms me this is a mistake, that he was a member
of Caj)tain Eansom's cojnpany.
The roll, as we now liave it, contains but fifty-five
names. If we give riymouth the credit of one-third
of the full complement of eighty-four men, then it
would appear that the town furnished iK^t less than
thirty-five men in the two companies in tlie Revolu-
tionary establishment.
The name of Benjamin Bidlack does not appear
on either of the rolls, when it is a fact tljat he served
throughout the whole seven years of the war. It
does not appear either from any records how many
of the men were from Plymouth, enlisted by Wisner
and Strong, who recruited previously in the valley.
If we put down the whole number at forty, we
should probably fail to do justice to the early settlers
of the town.
There is one undeniable, positive fact, however,
which does not admit of dispute or cavil, and that is,
that the people of the town came boldly up to the
work, and tliat they have left behind them a record
worthy of the imitation of their descendants, if occa-
sion shall ever require, and one which will never cause
them to blush.
And another fact is also positive, that each and
every one of tliem went through the terrible ordeal of
those days with honor and credit, and that they are
well entitled to our gratitude and respect : to our
166 HISTOIilCAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
gratitudo tor the rioh legacy tlioy lH\\ue;uliod to us, in
tlie kind ot' govoruTuont we enjoy; to our respect, for
the deeds of daring and bravery they exhibited.
Our men, under Purkee and Eausom, were sta-
tioned between the British and American lines, near
MorristoAvn, N. J. The lii-st time they were under
fii-e was on the twentieth of January, 1777, at the
battle of Millstone, '* as gallant and successful an ac-
tion," sa}'s Miner, " considering the number engaged,
as was fought during the war." They were attached
to a command under General Dickinson, which num-
bered about four hundred men ; they made a raid
upon a foraging party of British trooj^s of about the
same n uuber. The affair resulted in a complete suc-
cess. They nobly repulsed the enemy : he fled in
confusion, leaving to the victore some fifty wagons
loaded with flour and pixwisions, and over a hundred
hoi"ses. Each man shared in the booty — the prize-
money of each amounting to several doUai-s. Cajv-
tain Kansom sent home a wagon to Ph-mouth as a
trophy. Porter, one of Kansom's men, was killed in
this action by a cannon-ball.
General Washington, in giving a i-eport of this
atfair to Congress, uses the following complimentary
language :
'* Tliis action happened near Somei'set Court
House, on Millstone river. Gx'neral Pickinson's be-
havior reflects the highest honor on him: for though
his troops were aU raw, he led them through the
OUR MEN UNDER FIRE. 167
river, middle de(![), ;iiid <^jive tlie enemy so severe a
charge, that althougli supported by three field-pieces,
they gave way and left their convoy."
It will be borne in mind that half of this force of
Dickinson was composed of Wyoming men, and
probably not less than forty of these were from old
Plymouth. Raw and imdisciplined, yet true to their
colors, under the first fire, and receiving the com-
pliment of their great chief in a written report of
the battle.
How often have I listened to the details of the
affair at Millstone, from the lips of our old friend,
Colonel George P. Ransom, who was in his father's
company, and in that engagement !
We next hear of the two Independent companies
in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Bound
Brook and Mud Fort. The battles of Brandywine
and Germantown were severely fought contests; the
two companies were merged in large masses, and we
cannot follow them through these engagements. They
had stood fire at Millstone, and they undoubtedly
maintained their courage afterwards.
At the terrible bombardment of Mud Fort, Lieu-
tenant Spalding, of Ransom's company, was in com-
mand of a detachment. As the raking fire of the
British artillery made sad havoc with the slender
breast-works, and the balls came whizzing through in
all directions, one of his soldiers threw himself upon
the ground, exclaiming, " nobody can stand this ! "
lliS HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
" Get up, my good follow/' said Spalding coolly,
^'I should hate to have to run you through; you can
stand it if I can; " and the man. springing to his feet,
returned to his duty.
Constant Mathevrson, one of Ransom's men, was
killed in this enga^'ement, and several were Avouuded.
The two Sawyers, Plymouth men. died soon after
with camp disease; also Spencer, and one of the Gay-
lords. Others died whose names are not given. Ben-
jamin Harvey was frozen to death at Valley Forge —
so that we find Captain Eansom's company, in Octo-
ber. 1777. reduced to sixty-two men.
The following spring dark and ominous clouds
"began to overshadow the valley. The Indians hegan
to show themselves on the outskirts, committing
murder and carrying olf prisoners. The tories, here-
tofore silent, hegan to thro ^' out hints of an approach-
ing storm. '•Coming events cast their shadows be-
fore."
The demon of carnage and battle was preparing
for his grand banquet, which was to be displayed on
the approaching third of July. The entire popula-
tion became restive and excited: the runners who were
sent out brought back chilling information, and a
general alarm throughout the valley was created.
Tliis state of things reached "Washington's camp, at
Morristown, where the two Independent companies
were stationed. Those of them who had left their
unguarded and unprotected wives and children at home
BATTLE OF WYOMING. 169
became excited and furious. All the commissioned of-
ficers but two resigned; and these, with some twenty
or thirty men (w.th or without permission does not
appear), left the camp and sped to Wyoming.
It is probable that the authorities in the camp,
knowing the desperate condition of the families of
the men, winked at their departure. The single men
remained, and on the twenty-fourth of June, 1778,
the two comjDanies were united in one, and Lieuten-
ant Spalding, of Eansom's company, was appointed
ca]3tain.
As this was but ten days preceding the massacre,
it is probable that was about the time that the men
left the camp. They had waited to the last moment :
human endurance could be delayed no longer. Their
love and affection for their families, their fear for
their safety, their knowledge of the terrible foe that
was hovering over them, were reasons which could
brook no restraint. They came; but alas, poor fel-
lows ! they came to sodden the field of carnage with
their blood. Their bones, now gathered together in
one common receptacle, repose at the base of the
humble and unpretending monument which their
children in after years erected, to point out the spot,
to strangers, where their fathers were slain.
It was not my design in giving Historical Sketch-
es of Plymouth, to write an account of the details of
the battle of Wyoming. I find, however, that there
were so many of our town's people engaged in it, that
170 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
my outline would be imperfect did I not give at least
a condensed view of the engagement. Connected as
our people were with this battle, and so many of
them having fallen on that eventful day, my sketches
would not be complete were I not to include in them
an account of it.
While, therefore, tliis will lengthen out the chain
of local events necessarily, still they are so intimately
blended with our township history that it is proper to
speak of them.
In the latter part of June the people of the val-
ley were fully apprised of the approach of the enemy.
The Indian vanguard, descending both sides of the
Susquehanna, commenced gathering their crop of
scalps for the British market. The price of the
article varied : this was graded in amount, beginning
with the scalp of the robust and able-bodied man,
and so down to the child of two years. They were
all assorted, and labeled, and baled as tlie Indians
pack their peltry, and in this way delivered over to
the officers of the Crown entrusted with this branch
of fJie British service /
In their descent upon the valley they murdered
and scalped all before them, sparing neither age, nor
sex, nor condition.
On the thirtieth of June, the British Colonel
Butler, at the head of some four hundred provincials
and tories and about seven hundred Indians, took up
his position on the mountain bordering the north-
BATTLE OF WYOMING. 171
eastern part of the township of Kingston. Here the
British, tory and savage commander made his point
of observation. He soon ascertained that his tory
allies, the Wintermoots, Van Gorders, Von Alsteens,
and Secords, who had visited him the year before, in
the " Lake conntry," had made a true and faithful
exposition of the helpless condition of the people of
the valley. It was an easy prey.
To meet this invading force now became the great
and momentous question upon the part of the people
of Wyoming. And when we take into consideration
that the whole possible available force of the valley
did not amount to one-third of the number invading
it, we may well be amazed that an effort should even
have been made to resist it. But retreat would have
been death, and to meet the foe would only add the
pangs of torture which were to follow. The poor
chances of success overbalanced these : a firm stand
was the only alternative.
A council was convened, and resistance to the last
determined upon. Plymouth, ever ready to respond,
gave every man and boy that could bear arms. Cap-
tain Samuel Ransom, now at home, having resigned
his commission in the army to stand or fall with his
friends and neighbors, went into the Plymouth com-
pany as a private in the ranks. The people of the
town assembled, had elected Asaph Whittlesey captain.
The rank and file of this company, the remnant of the
people, after the drain made upon them to fill up the
17- HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF TLYMOrTH.
muster-roll of the Second Independent company of
United States troops, numbered forfi/-four: too many
for the slaughter that Avas depending.
The roll of this company was not preserved. Proh-
ahly it perished in the pocket of the dead orderly
upon the battle-field. The only ^vay left to us to as-
certain -who were on it after the lapse of ninety-three
years, is to copy the names of our dead from the mar-
ble slab of the monument erected upon the ground
where they fell.
The following are believed to have been Plymouth
men: their names are enrolled upon the monumental
tablet: their memory should be upon the hearts of the
people of Plymouth in all time to come.
Samuel B-ansom, Asaph TVhittlesey. Aaron Gay-
lord. Amos Bullock, John Brown, Thomas Brown,
Thomas Fuller, Stephen Fuller, Silas Harvey, James
Hopkins, Xathaniel Howard, Nicholas Manville, Job
Marshall, John Pierce, Silas Parke. Conrad Daven-
port, Elias Koberts, Timothy Boss, Reynolds,
James Shaw, Joseph Shaw, Abram Shaw. John Wil-
liams, Elihu Williams, Jr.. Eutus Williams, Aziba
Williams and William Woodring. These are su].v-
posed to be twenty-seven of the forty-four. As to the
renuiining seventeen, those who knew them have
passed away, and their names, as well as the tate of
some of them, are lost to history.
Of the little band of forty-four of our town's
pet^ple whom Captain Asaph Whittlesey led to the
THE BATTLE OF WYOMING. 173
field on the third of July, 1778, probably twenty of
the number did not survive the disasters of the
day.
Captain Whittlesey occupied and owned the pres-
ent Calvin Wadhams homestead. The little stream
running through the premises, and emptying into the
river near the Nottingham coal shaft, still bears his
name.
The united force of the valley amounted to from
three to four hundred men, and most of them were
enrolled into four companies.
Ist. Captain Dethick Hewit's company, composed
of forty men, regulars, just recruited for the general
service.
2d. Captain Asaph. Whittlesey's company, Ply-
mouth, forty-four men.
3d. Captain Lazarus Stewart's company, Han-
over, forty men.
4th. Captain James Bidlack's company, lower
Wilkes-Barre, thirty-eight men.
5th. Captain Kezin Geer's company, upper
Wilkes-Barre, thirty men.
6th. Captain Aholiab Buck's company, Kingston,
forty-four men.
The companies of Plymouth and Kingston, each
forty-four, were the largest companies in the little
army. All told make two hundred and thirty-six
men. There were others who volunteered for the oc-
casion, not enumerated in either of the company
17-i niSTOKICAL SKETCHES OF FLTIifOUTH.
rolls, the "v\'liole constituting a body of some four
hundred men.
The historians of the valley lix the number at
about three hundred, but the probability is that it
approached nearer to four hundred. As there was a
general excitement and alarm, the people rushed to
the common headquarters, and there was not that at-
tention to enrollment and classilication by companies
that there would have been in a state of C[uiet. The
enemy was upon the border, and it was not known
what moment he would advance. So that confusion
was the element which ruled the situation.
The names of one hundred and sixty-fom- persons
are preserved to us of the slain. There can hardly
be a doubt but there were nearly three hundred.
Franklin's account in his journal of the event says
'' that near three hundred brave men fell a sacrifice to
Indian barbarity." He was on the spot the evening
of the day of the battle, and probably his jotu-nal is
as correct an accoimt as is left us of the actual num-
ber slaughtered.
But the exact mimher of our people who went
forth to battle upon that eventful occasion will never
be known.
On the twelfth of December. 1S37, I carefully
wi'ote down the narrative given me by Samuel Finch,
one of the survivors of the battle. The old gentle-
man was. at the time of my interview with him, in
his eighty-first year. His mind was unimpaired, and
BATTLE OF WYOMING. 175
his memory about details, so far as I had previously-
learned from others who had escaped from the general
slaughter, was very correct.
This old veteran, in 1837, was a resident of Tioga
county, in this State. He was on a visit, at the time
I speak of, to Mr. George M. Hollenback, of Wilkes-
Barre, who brought him to my office, with the re-
quest that I would write down his account of the
battle. Mr. Hollenback's father, the late Judge
Hollenback of this city, and Mr. Finch, made their
escape from the field together. Hollenback was in
Captain Durkee's company. The captain was seri-
ously wounded in his thigh and could not walk.
Hollenback, being much attached to him, carried him
some distance from the field on his shoulders; but
being pressed closely by Indian pursuers. Captain
Durkee " prayed him to abandon him to his fate, as
they would both lose their lives in any further eflbrt
to save him." Keluctantly, Hollenback laid him
upon the ground, with his prayer of " God Almighty
protect you, captain," and sped on towards the river
in company with Finch, They had gone, however,
but a few rods before they heard the crash of the
tomahawk in poor Durkee's brain. Hollenback was
an expert swimmer. He plunged into the river —
having disposed of the most of his clothing as he
ran — and putting a guinea in his mouth — about his
only fortune — amidst the discharge of Indian bullets,
safely reached the western shore. Finch being unable
11
176 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF rLTMOUTH,
to swim, concealed liimself iu some drift-"\vood near
the shore, but was, on the following morning, discov-
ered, taken back to Queen Esther's rock, and among
the orgies there practised, was ordered to run the
gauntlet, which he safely accomplished, escaping
twentv-four blows directed at him br twenty-four
tomahawks, in the hands of the same number of
savages, standing in parallel lines some ten feet
apart ! His escape from this terrible ordeal '' he at-
tributed to the tact that it was a common pastime
among the eai-lier settlers of those days to pmctise run-
ning the g-auntlet. not knowing but the time might
come when their skill thus ac(.]^uired might be of ser-
vice to them, and in my case it most certainly was.''
Mr. Finch further stated, •'that along with the
other prisoners he commenced the march toward the
Canadian frontier, but on the journey luade his escape,
and found his way back to his friends in Wyoming/'
But my design in referring to this narrative, writ-
ten down from the mouth of the witness thirty-live
years ago, is to throw light, if possible, upon that
long-disputed and never-to-be-settled point, touching
the number of our people who fought the battle of
Wyoming.
Samuel Finch states, " that he, with another sol-
dier, was stationed at the gateway of Forty Fort by
Colonel Butler to count the men as they passed out to
battle; and that, including the regulars and militia,
there were four hundred and eighty-four men."
THE WYOMING BATTLE-FIELD. 177
If this information be correct, then the number
is larger than that mentioned by any of the numer-
ous persons who have heretofore written upon this
subject.
My written memoranda is in the exact language of
the witness; nor am I aware that there is any reason
why the account thus given by him should not be en-
titled to credit and belief. He could certainly have
had no motive to state a falsehood.
Mr. Finch further stated, " that he was the mes-
senger sent to Colonel Dorrance, at the extreme left of
the line, with the order to ' fall back,' which, through
mistake, was accepted as an order to retreat,"
The memorable field upon which the Wyoming
battle, or more generally and appropriately known as
the field of the Wyoming massacre, was fought, is sit-
uated upon the west bank of the Susquehanna, and a
half mile north-east of the granite monument erected,
commemorative of the event, in the "old certified"
township of Kingston. The base of the mountain
being the northern, and a break or elevation in the
plain, midway between the mountain and river, the
southern boundary. At the foot of this divide, in
the plain, one portion being some twenty feet higher
than the other, is a morass, which at the date of which
we speak, was covered by a thick growth of under-
brush. At the base of the mountain was also a much
wider morass than the one named, covered densely
with scrub oaks and a thick net- work of undergrowth,
178 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
very difficult of access. From this jungle came forth
the Seneca chief and his savage braves. The distance
between the southern boundary of the upper plain
and the thicket at the foot of the mountain is about a
half mile. This space was mostly covered with a
sparsely growth of native pines, there being a cleared
field of some two acres on the extreme right of the
American line.
Upon the brow of the little hill was located the
Tory fortification, known as Fort Wintermoot. When
this fort was first erected, it was considered as belong-
ing to friendly people; in a few years it passed as one
of neutrality. On the morning of the battle, how-
ever, the British flag floated over it.
The lower plain was also sparsely covered with
pines, and it was across this ground that a large num-
ber of the fugitives, after the defeat, made an effort to
reach the river.
Such I believe to be a pretty correct description
of the ground upon which was fought the short but
decisive and disastrous battle of Wyoming, in the
afternoon of the third day of July, 1778.
On the second day of July, the day preceding the
battle. Colonel John Butler, the commander of the
British, Tory and Indian army of invasion, removed
his camp from the mountain, in the immediate vicin-
ity, entered the valley, and established his chief depot
at the Wintermoot fort. The Wintermoot family
occupied the fort at the time, and by previous ar-
DEMANDS OF BRITISH BUTLER. 179
rangement, had made all the necessary preparations
for the reception of their distinguished guest.
The day before this, Colonel Zebulon Butler had
made a reconnoissance in force, of the upper end of
the valley, to inquire into the circumstances of the
murder of the Harding family, and others, perpetra-
ted by the Indians who were attached to the command
of the British leader, as well as to gather what in-
formation he could of the position and numbers of
the enemy.
The day that the British Butler established him-
self at Wintermoot, he sent a deputation of three
men to Forty Fort, under a white flag, who demanded
a surrender of that fort, together with all the other
stockades and military defenses of the valley, muni-
tions of war, public property, as well as all men in
arms, in opposition to his majesty the King of Great
Britain.
This demand of course was refused. On the
morning of the third of July, a like deputation was
sent, which ended in a like result. A demand of
surrender had thus been made and refused. The
next step was the casting down and the acceptance
of the red gauntlet of battle. Which, if not done
with all formulas of civilized warfare, was understood
well by the offensive and defensive parties.
From the thirtieth of June to the morning of the
fatal third day of July, the entire effective force of
the whole valley, including men of seventy years of
180 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
age and boys of fourteen, had been gathered together,
and mostly enrolled and organized into companies,
for the purpose of meeting the approaching foe; as to
the actual numbers of which, the people of the valley
entertained but a vague and indefinite knowledge.
The women and children had been placed in the
different fortifications of the valley, on both sides of
the river, for safety and protection. The greater num-
ber, however, had been quartered in Forty Fort, that
being the most capacious as well as the strongest
garrison. Its enclosure contained an area of about
a half acre of ground, surrounded by a stockade, the
sharpened timbers firmly set in the earth, and of suf-
ficient height and strength to afford an available de-
fence, except against siege artillery, which neither of
the belligerents possessed.
Here assembled on the morning of the disastrous
day, in council, for the last time, the httle band of
bold and daring men who were soon to meet in dead-
ly conflict with more than three times their own num-
ber, to decide the momentous issue, whether they
would fall with their faces or backs to the foe. To
meet them was death; to retreat was death; and
death therefore tainted the atmosphere which the
people of the little garrison inhaled. But they were
nevertheless firm and resolute, and they had made up
their minds that if they must die, they " would die
with harness on their backs."
Colonel Zebulon Butler, a commander of one of
PEOPOSITION TO SURRENDER. 181
the regiments of the Continental armj, being at liis
liome in Wilkes-Barre on a fmiougli, had. been, by
common consent, invested with, the command in chief
of this little army. His staff consisted of Colonel Na-
than Denison, Lieutenant-Colonel George Dorrance,
and Major John Garret. To this he added Captain
Samuel Kansom and Captain Eobert Durkee, men of
military skill, and upon whose judgment he placed
great consideration and reliance.
The first question to be disposed of on that day,
which terminated amid the darkest gloom and the
the most heart-rending sorrow, was to decide upon the
proposition of the British commander to surrender!
Upon this question there was not a dissenting voice.
A conflict was inevitable, so they took up the gage
of battle defiantly thrown at their feet by the lead-
er of a force more than thrice their own number; a fact
which he knew, but which they did not. And if they
had, it would not have changed their conduct.
The next point to be determined was, whether
they should immediately give battle, or remain within
the fortification and stand a siege, with the expecta-
tion of the arrival of reinforcements. This gave rise
to a division of opinion.
Colonel Butler and his staff took the ground that
there should be delay, for a short time at least, be-
cause there was reason to hope that Captain Spalding,
with his Continental company, was on his way to
Westmoreland; that Captain John Franklin, with a
182 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
company from Himtington and Salem, was also on his
way to join them; tliat tliere should be time for the
general panic throughout the valley to subside; that
coolness, resulting from discipline, as well as valor,
were elements necessary for success.
To these arguments were interposed the objection,
that the enemy had now been three days in the valley;
they were fast carrying on their work of conquest and
murder; that this fact would be likely to create in-
stead of suppress panic; that two forts had already
surrendered; that all the craft in the river above
Forty Fort were in the possession of the enemy, thus
affording him an opportunity to cross to the east side,
which would compel the abandonment of the only
really stronghold they had for retreat in case of disas-
ter; that they could not rely upon keeping their men
together when most of them were within gun-shot
sound of their helpless and unprotected families; and
finally, if death was to be their doom, there were
enough of them to suffer the penalty. These argu-
ments were decisive of the matter. The last one re-
minds us of the speech of Henry V, before the battle
of Agincourt;
"If we are mark'd to die, we are enough.
To do OUT country loss : and if to live,
Tlie fewer men, the greater share of honor."
It is not for us to say, after the lapse of nearly a
hundred years, without those means ol knowledge
vrhich existed on that occasion, whether the decision
DECISION OF THE COUNCIL. 183
they arrived at was judicious and prudent, or other-
wise. The men who made it had to assume the fear-
ful consequences that followed. If an error was com-
mitted, the motive which prompted it cannot be ques-
tioned. It is true that Captain Spalding was between
the Pocono and the Blue Mountain, within two days'
march of Wilkes-Barre, with a company of sixty men
or more, and that Captain Frankhn, with thirty-five
men, was within eight hours' march of the camp. But
it is no more than reasonable to suppose, as circum-
stances afterwards transpired, that if Spalding and
Franklin had been present, that there would have
been contributed an additional hundred to the slaugh-
tered hecatomb in reserve.
The decision of the council of war to adopt imme-
diate offensive action may possibly have been prema-
ture. From the limited knowledge, however, of the
circumstances which is left to us at this remote period
of time, we cannot help concluding that the decision
was right.
The men who made it were not aware of the nu-
merical strength of their enemy; and the sequel, as de-
veloped afterwards upon the field, is pretty conclusive
that a hundred men more could not have saved the
day. The fair presumption is, that a hundred more
would have fallen had they been in the engagement.
Three or four to one are fearful odds in an open
field, and where the strategy of war cannot be made
available.
184 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Two o'clock in the afternoon liad arrived; the
solemn decision to fight in the open field had been
made; the minority had cheerfully yielded their opin-
ions to the majority, and the little army of four hun-
dred men marched out of the fort in battle array.
Colonel Butler detailed Captains Durkee and Ean-
som, and Lieutenants Eoss and Wells, for the purpose
of making a reconnoissance of the ground, and to es-
tablish the locality of the line of battle. These men
had been under fire upon continental battle-fields,
and were, therefore, properly selected for the purpose
with which they were entrusted. They went, but
they never returned from the field they surveyed.
Upon the ground they designated. Colonel Butler
formed his line. The two posts of honor were as-
signed to Captain Durkee, who was put at the ex-
treme right, and our townsman. Captain Whittlesey,
upon the extreme left. Durkee was protected as to
any flank movement by the morass; Whittlesey by
the mountain and dense thicket at its base, which
the savages however could penetrate.
Colonel Butler, with Major Garret, took the com-
mand of the right wing; Colonel Denison, supported
by Colonel Dorrance, the left. Durkee was placed
with Bidlack, and Kansom with Whittlesey. This
was the order of battle at three o'clock in the after-
noon of the third of July, 1778.
All this preparation had undoubtedly reached the
ears of the British, Tory and Indian commander, for
SPEECH OF COLONEL BUTLER. 185
at about the same time lie had formed his line a
short distance below Fort Wintermoot. Divesting
liimself of his plumes and martial tawdry, with a
black handkerchief bound about his head, he took the
command of his left wing, composed of regulars and
provincial troops. He placed his right wing, com-
posed of Indians and Tories, under the command of
Gucingeracton, a Seneca chief, supported, probably,
by Captain Caldwell, of Johnson's Eoyal Greens.
The fact as to the presence of Johnson is somewhat
obscure, but as Caldwell was his next in rank, the
better opinion seems to favor the idea that he com-
manded the Royal Greens on this occasion.
Both parties, therefore, being within a half mile
of each other, and in battle array, it required but the
signal gun for the commencement of the conflict.
Colonel Butler made a short address before he
displayed Ms column. He said : " Men, yonder is
the enemy. The fate of the Hardings tells us what
we have to expect if defeated. We come out to
fight not only for liberty, but for life itself ; and, what
is dearer, to preserve our homes from conflagration,
our women and children from the tomahawk. Stand
firm the first shock, and the Indians will give way.
Every man to his duty."
As Denison was filing his column ofl" to the left,
he again repeated : " Be firm, everything depends on
resisting the first shock."
Our line began the advance, and at the same time
1S6 HISTOKIOAL SKETCHES OE FLTMOUTH.
the flames and smoke were seen to ascend from Foii;
TVintermoot. Tlie motive for tliis lias never been
disclosed; but as the bm-ning embers were afterwaids
used as a means of torturing wounded and disabled
prisoners of war, we may suppose that the savage-
hearted man. who that day led his Indian and Tory
bands, prepared his rack in advance for the torture of
his Tictims.
Colonel Zebulon Butler ordered his men to fire
throughout the whole line, and to keep up the volley
as they advanced. The fire was rapid as well as
steady the whole length of his line. The British
advancing at the same time, the dischai^e of mus-
ketry became continuous.
There being fewer natural obstacles on the right,
Colonel Zebulon Butler made rapid advances, and
drove the left wins: of his adversarv before him: he
not only compelled him to ^'ield his ground, but also
created confusion in his ranks. The British line
could not withst^md the regular and steady tire to
which it was exposed. Following up their advan-
tages, the British Butler's left wing was now more
than a quarter of a mile in the i"ear of the point of
attack, and very close upon the burning fortification;
eveiything looked favorable upon the right, but, £das !
not so on the left.
Colonel Denison had to meet a concealed foe.
The morass literally swarmed with savages, and
while our people were partially upon a plain, they be-
HAND-TO-HAND CONFLICT. 187
came the objects of deliberate aim from the concealed
savage warriors. In a few moments they had picked
out Colonel Dorrance, Captains Eansom and Whit-
tlesey, and who, like brave men as they were, fell in
the front ranks. The Indians becoming encouraged
at their success in the fall of these officers, with a
tremendous yell, which was taken up and repeated
from band to band through the morass, darted upon
the company of Whittlesey by a flank movement
which of course threw it into confusion. Colonel
Denison did what any prudent soldier would have
done under the circumstances. He made the effort
to place Whittlesey's company with its front to the
enemy, which had just turned his flank. To do this
it was necessary that they should fall back, and such
was his order; but we must bear in mind when this
order was given probably half of his company had
fallen, and that each survivor, in this hand-to-hand
fight, had to contend with a half dozen infuriated
savages against him. Orders under such circum-
stances could amount to nothing. The left wing was
overpowered; it had not the strength nor the num-
bers to resist the enemy it had to contend with.
Seven hundred of these excited and wild savages
let loose upon the left wing, which probably did not
exceed two hundred men all told, was a fearful ob-
stacle ; and therefore whether the order were retreat
or fall back, it could not have changed the result. The
line was too feeble to withstand the avalanche; it did
188 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
not waver, it was cruslicd. Nothing short of a mira-
cle conhl hare resisted the overpowering weight
thrown upon it.
Most of our k")cal historians, from Chapman
down, taking up the oft-repeated version of this fea-
ture of the Wyoming battle, impute the failure upon
om- part to the misunderstanding of the order to fall
back for one of retreat.
There is no doubt whatever but what many men
who escaped death upon that iield were under this
impression. Suppose the left wing had understood
the order to fall back, would it have been possible for
them to have faced successfully an enemy of such su-
perior force ? Where would they have made their
base ? They were smTOunded on all sides, in front,
and rear, and flank.
It is time that public opinion should decide this
question, and that the facts should be properly un-
derstood.
The rout upon the left became general. The
success which Butler had achieved on the right
amounted to nothing amidst the disasters which had
taken place on his left. Amid desperation and hope
he rode between the two lines, appealing to his men,
whom he called his children, "to stand their ground."
It was the last act remaining for him to do as a brave
man; but superior numbers had accomplished its
work, and thus within half an hour after the com-
mencement of the battle, the whole line was in fuU
butler's brutality 189
retreat, each, flying for his life, and seeking the most
available refuge from his bloodthirsty pursuers.
The scenes of brutality and murder which fol-
lowed the disastrous defeat at the Wyoming battle,
thank God ! have but few parallels. The sickening,
abhorrent and disgusting details of which, though
done within an enlightened age, perhaps ought not
to be repeated to an enlightened people. The part
played by the wild and savage Indian does not so
much shock the senses, because he was cradled in
blood and educated in the belief that he was serving
the Great Spirit in taking vengeance in the most
cruel manner upon his real or imaginary enemies.
But what have we to say in defence of the memory
of the man, born and educated within the pale of
civilization, and placed in command as a reward of
merit, probably, of a regiment of British infantry ^
And can we wonder either that a British King,
whose sense of humanity, as exhibited in his conduct
towards his American subjects, was of the most cruel
kind, should have stood aghast and refused the honor
of knighthood to Colonel John Butler until he cleared
up the charges against him of brutal conduct at the
battle of Wyoming. It was too much for George
III., by no means a monarch of nice and discriminat-
ing virtues, to swallow the dose.
And how grateful it is to reflect that British gold
could not purchase from our old settlers of this val-
ley a certificate palliating the monstrous conduct when
190 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
eagerly souglit for by his entreaties ! They were
poor, but tliey were honest. Gold did not bny them.
The principal avenue of retreat from the battle-
ground was in the direction of the river. The flank
movement made by the savages cut oft' the means of
escape by the road leading to the fort. Some few
escaped in that direction, but the main body of the
fugitives sought the river, the enemy in full pursuit.
Scores of them were shot down, or wounded and car-
ried back to Queen Esther's rock for the bloody car-
nival which was to come off there. Twenty-seven
mutilated and disfigured bodies were afterwards foimd
at that place, and so disfigured by wounds and gashes
as not to be recognized.
The Tory animosity and hate, if they did not ex-
ceed the savage disposition, came almost up to it.
Upon Monocasy Island, in the immediate vicinity of
the battle-ground, where many of the poor creatures
sought refuge, a beast in human shape, by the name
of Pensil, deliberately shot down a brother who was
upon his knees before him supplicating for his life.
With the imprecation that " he was a d — d rebel,"
he blew out his brains. There were instances where
other Tories invited back their fleeing enemy, under
the promise that their lives should be saved, but in
every case where they returned under such promises,
they were mercilessly butchered. Captain James
Bidlack, with others, who were wounded, were thrown
by the Indians and Tories into the flames of Fort
HOERIBLE BRUTALITY. 191
"Wintermoot, and held down by pitchforks till the
burning embers consumed their bodies. Deeds of
cruelty inflicted in the civil family feuds between the
houses of York and Lancaster are dwarfed in their
comparison with those of the Wyoming massacre,
and perpetrated, too, under the eye, if not by the
order of the British commander, a man who had the
benefits and advantages of civilization. But the
progress in moral reform of three hundred years had
extended no kindly influences over him.
The battle did not exceed half an hour in dura-
tion, so that from four o'clock until the dawn of the
next day, the horrid creatures carried on their fearful
orgies. The atmosphere for miles around was pol-
luted with the stench of burning human bodies.
"All night long," says Pearce, "there was a revel in
blood and in the fumes of burning human flesh.
Not until the morning light did they cease their de-
moniac orgies for want of victims. The sun never
shed his rays on a bloodier fieM. Spectators standing
upon the opposite shore of the river saw naked men
forced around the burning stake with spears, and
heard their heart-rending shrieks and dying groans."
I pass over the troubles and sacrifices which befel
the women and helpless children in their flight from
the valley. Their husbands and fathers and broth-
ers were nearly all slain. Of the army which went
out in the morning, fifty did not return ahve. Of
the fifteen officers, eleven were slain. Every captain
12
192 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
of the six coropanies, including Kansom and Durkee,
■were found dead at the front of the line, with the
exception of Bidlack, whose charred body was found
anions: the burned debris of "Wintermoot fort.
The women and children of Plymouth started on
the night of the battle for Fort Augusta, at Sunbury.
The roads in every direction leading from the valley
were throncred with fu2:itive women and children — and
as they ascended the high hills skirting the valley,
they looked back upon their burning homes and in-
haled the tainted breeze from the battle-field of their
slaughtered husbands, brothers and fathers.
On the preceding day, July fourth, the British
Biitler marched to Forty Fort, where he found Colonel
Denison with a small remnant of the men who had
escaped the hoiTors of the day before. Captain Frank-
lin, with his thirty-iive men, had reached there on the
evening of the battle. These soldiers and the women
and children composed the garrison. Articles of ca-
pitulation were drawn up and signed. But except as
to the comimission of any other deeds of murder, the
conditions were almost totally disregarded. The In-
dians were still Indians, and the British commander
pretended he could not control them. They robbed
the women of their clotliing and the children of their
bread. What they could not cany away they burnt
and destroyed. After the signing of the treaty, bands
of Indians and Tories traversed the valley and de-
stroyed by fire nearly all the buildings.
DOUBT AS TO BRANDT's PEESENCE. 193
To show the brutal character of the British com-
mander, we will give an incident. In entering the
gateway of Forty Fort, he recognized Sergeant Boyd,
a deserter. " Boyd," said he, with the sternness of
savage ferocity, " go to that tree." — " I hope," said
Boyd, imploringly, "your honor will consider me a
prisoner of war." — " Gro to that tree, sir." And then
summoning an Indian squad he ordered them to fire
upon him. The poor sergeant fell dead.
In this we read the temper and disposition of the
man. He had it in his power to have checked the
slaughter of his prisoners; he had it in his power to
have saved the people of the valley from plunder, and
their homes from the brand. He was under Tory in-
fluence and acted from savage impulses.
And after all these examples of monstrosity, he
sought the honorable distinction of knighthood. It
was too much for even George III. to grant !
Brandt was not in the battle. It is somewhat re-
markable that almost every survivor of the massacre
was under the impression that the Mohawk chief was
at the head of the Indians on the third of July.
Chapman took up the same idea from revelations un-
doubtedly made to him by the survivors, and such was
and is the tradition of this matter, I have been told,
time and again by them, that they saw him and they
would describe his dress and person. Miner followed
Chapman, but doubtingly, and in a note he submits
the question to the judgment of his readers. Pearce
194 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
says tliat lie was not in tlie battle^ and Dr. Peck is of
the same opinion.
In order to satisfy my own mind, some years since
I wrote a letter to Mr. Bancroft, the historian, on this
subject. He had come down in the chain of his his-
tory to the eve of the Wyoming battle. I wrote
stating to him that there was a difference of opinion
on the question whether Brandt was in the battle of
Wyoming.
I give the copy of his reply to my letter on the
subject:
" New Yokk, April 15, 1867.
" My Dear Mr. Wright : I had already written the account of the
Wyoming massacre, and having had before me very full contempo-
rary materials, I had avoided the error against which you so kindly
caution me.
" Brandt was not in the valley ; your party was of the Seneca
tribe, and led by a great Seneca chief. Brandt led an expedition in
New York, as the enclosed papers will show.
" Very truly yours, G-EO. BANCROFT."
The enclosed paper which is here referred to, is a
copy of a report, of the massacre, made by Colonel
Guy Johnson to Lord George Germain, at the time
Secretary of War under George III., dated at New
York, on the twentieth of September, 1778, two
months after the battle. The following is the report :
" Tour Lordship will have heard before this can
reach you of the successful incursions of the Indians
and Loyalists from the Northward. In conformity to
the Instructions I conveyed to my officers, they as-
GUY Johnson's repokt. 195
sembled their force early in May, and one division un-
der one of my Deputies, Mr. Butler, proceeded with
great success down tlie Susquehanna, destroying the
Posts and Settlements at Wyoming ; augmenting
their number with many Loyalists, and alarming all
the country; whilst another Division under Mr.
Brandt, the Indian Chief, cut off two hundred and
ninety-four men near Schoharie, and destroyed the
adjacent settlements, with several Magazines, from
whence the rebels had derived great resources, thereby
affording great encouragement and opportunity to
many friends of the Government to join them."
This document would seem to settle the question
that Brandt was not in the battle of Wyoming. He
took his two hundred and ninety-four scalps at Scho-
harie, "and destroyed the settlements" in that coun-
try at the same time that " Mr. Butler " took nearly
or quite the same number of scalps at Wyoming,
"and destroyed the settlements " on the Susquehanna,
as well as " alarming all the country."
How idle was it, therefore, for " Mr. Butler " to
allege to Colonel Denison that he could not control
the Indians in their destruction of property in the
vaUey. His master, Mr. Guy Johnson, says that
such were the orders he gave. Butler, therefore,
when his Indians and " Loyalists " (Tories) were de-
stroying the entire settlement of Wyoming with the
brand and the sword, was but carrying out the orders
of the agents of a Christian King:.
196 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
It is well that this part of the history of Wyo-
ming, as to the presence of Brandt, is fully settled
and understood, though at a very modern date.
I have in this statement of the battle of Wyoming
not gone into it as fully as I should have done, because
it did not have a material bearing on the subject I
have in hand. The local history of Plymouth, how-
ever, became so much connected with it, that I was
compelled to give it a short examination. •
I have already stated the number of our people
slain in the massacre, and the circumstances under
which they were marshalled into the ranks, and that
they did not flinch from the duties which events im-
posed upon them. The Williams family alone con-
tributed four of their number to the slaughter.
Our people should know the spot where their an-
cestors fell in the battle. When any of them here-
after shall, through curiosity or motives of regard,
visit the field, they will find the particular locality
about a mile above the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg
depot, at Wyoming station, and very nearly on the
bed of the track of that road. There our townsmen.
Captain Samuel Eansom, Captain Asaph Whittlesey,
and some twenty-five of our people were outflanked
and slain by Indians and Tories on that ever-memor-
able day.
The following statement of Daniel Washburn, a
Plymouth man, was kindly furnished me by Steuben
Jenkins, Bsc[., as written down by him in 1846, from
STATEMENT OF DANIEL WASHBURN. 197
the moutli of the old man. I give his precise lan-
guage. It is an interesting statement of the thrilling
events of the times, from one of om- own people :
"I lived in Shawnee. The Nanticoke company
came up to Shawnee and I joined in with them under
Captain Whittlesey. We all marched up to Forty
Fort that night. The next morning we saw the flag
of the enemy coming with two men; one carried the
flag and the other played upon the fife. They had a
letter for our Colonel, from what I could learn, telling
us to give up the fort. The Colonel told them he
would not give up the fort, and they left. After they
had left, orders were given by our Colonel, Butler,
that we must go and meet the enemy." (Here fol-
lows an account of the massacre.) * ■■•'" "■•'■" " We then
started, and steered a straight course for the Shawnee
fort (Grarrison Hill), through fields and woods, till we
came to Ross Hill, where we came in the main road,
and went to the fort. We came to the fort about
midnight, and to our great surprise it was occupied
by no one except my father, Jesse Washburn, and my
brother Caleb, my step-mother with two small chil-
dren, and Mrs. Woodring, the wife of William A.
Woodring, who was killed in the battle. Mrs. Wood-
ring had five children, four sons and one daughter.
We all remained till daybreak, when we could see no
one else around. The fort was full of provisions and
store-goods, bedding and house furniture. In the
morning we three, father, Caleb and myself carried
198 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
rails and made a raft. At nine o'clock we had our
raft j&nished. About this time we heard the report of
the enemy shooting at the Wilkes-Barre fort (and
we kneio it to he the enemy). We then got aboard of
our rail raft; my father and mother, Caleb and the
two children, and Mrs. Woodring and her five chil-
dren, taking with us provisions to last us across the
Blue Mountains. We then set sail with our rail raft
and went on very well till we got to Nanticoke Falls,
when we saw two boats fast on a rock. They called to
us to help them loose. There were in these boats
men, women and children. We then landed our raft
on the Shawnee side and went and helped them loose,
and helped them below the riff safe, for which they
paid us. When we were getting the boats loose we
saw a man come out of the woods. He was naked
and had not a stitch of clothes about him. He said he
swam the river about Forty Fort, and had come down
through the woods. He spoke to us from the other
side and told us of his happy escape, and then went
on again. When we had them all loose — it was
about twelve o'clock in the day — then we pushed off
our rail raft again and sailed on very well till night,
when we landed at, or a little above, the mouth of
Little Wapwallopen, and put up for the night in a
small cabin that stood where Jacob and Joseph Hess
now live (1846). A man by the name of Dewey had
moved out about two days before. Here we stayed
over night. In the morning we again pursued our
STATEMENT OF DANIEL WASHBURN. 199
journey along the old Indian path. This day we
travelled beyond the Buck Mountain and put up for
the night in the woods^ Mrs. Woodring and her five
children being still with us. The next morning we
again renewed our journey, and on the third day we
landed at a place called Greaden Head (Gnadden-
Hutten), in Northampton county. I was about fif-
teen years old at the Wyoming battle, and went for
my father. I am now nearly eighty-three. When
we got to Wapwallopen we met a man with a horse
and some cows which he wished us to assist him in
driving to Northampton. The women and children
rode alternately upon the horse. We had much
trouble in driving the cattle."
There seems to be no definite account preserved of
the number killed of the enemy in the battle. They
removed their dead and wounded. It is probable
that fifty would include the enemy's loss — ^possibly a
less number. We are left to conjecture as to the
fact.
CHAPTER VIII.
INDIAN MURDEKS AND PRISONEES. — CONDUCT OF THE
BRITISH GOVERNMENT. PERKINS, WILLIAMS, BID-
LACK, PIKE, ROGERS, VAN CAMPEN, PENCE, BEN-
JAMIN AND ELISHA HARVEY, GEORGE P. RANSOM,
LOUIS HARVEY, LUCY BULLFORD AND M°DOWEL.
ALESS number of our townspeople were murdered
or carried into captivity by tbe Indians than in
otber parts of the valley, compared with our popula-
tion. The records we have, though probably incom-
plete, show but two murdered and fourteen carried
away as prisoners. Some of those taken prisoners
were not afterwards heard from, and were probably
murdered.
This number does not embrace those slain in the
Wyoming battle.
Mr. Miner's list of the murdered within the town
of Westmoreland contains the names of sixty-one, and
his prisoners' list sixty, making a total of one hun-
dred and twenty-one; and while this catalogue wa ■
made with great caution and with much research and
labor, we do not find upon it the names of Louis
Harvey and Lucy Bullford of Plymouth, who were
captured at the time Colonel Ransom and the two
Harveys were. He, however, admits that the num-
(200)
CONDUCT OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, 201
ber, including those killed and captured, was larger
than the list he furnishes. There can be but little
doubt of this, as sixty years had passed by from the
time of these slaughters and imprisonments to the
period in which he wrote. The one hundred and
twenty-one would probably bear an addition of fifty,
and come nearer to the true state of the facts. Our
people of Plymouth, therefore, were remarkably fortu-
nate considering the terrible sacrifices that their sur-
rounding neighbors were subjected to, for the three
years succeeding the Wyoming battle. Before the
occurrence of this event, there was not an instance
of murder or capture in the town. It was after the
battle that the Indian character took on those terrible
and remorseless features of cruelty, the exhibitions of
which, in some cases, are too shocking to relate.
To the natural feeling of revenge and the thirst
for blood, the policy of the British king had imbued
the Indian heart with the new elements of avarice and
cupidity. These were before unknown to the red
man. He was proud and haughty in his manners, in-
different to any luxuries, content with the bare neces-
saries to sustain life, and in the language of Camp-
bell,
" A Stoic of tlie woods ; a man witliout a tear."
In his intercourse with the white man he had ac-
quired a new appetite. He tasted of the cup which
intoxicates, and he became unscrupulous as to the
manner of gratifying it. The scalp of an American,
202 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
wliether of man, woman or cliild, had a market value
under British law. The Indian dealt in the commod-
ity; he could make more money in the traffic of the
•white man's scalp than he could in the peltry of the
chase. He could sell them on presentation; the
market was never dull; there was no credit; the gold
was paid over the counter on delivery of the merchan-
dise. This would buy rum, and rum made the red
man happy. The new appetite supplanted all the
others, and his natural savage ferocity became in-
creased tenfold. Before this it was prescribed by
limits. True, the boundary was frail, but still the
line was discernible; the scalp bounty removed all re-
straint. The king gloried in the accumulation of his
new article of traffic; and the Indian, made more
savage in his cups, sharpened the already keen edge
of his knife with the exult~ant feelings of a monster.
The minds of purchaser and seller were in accord, and
so the trade went on for the mutual profits of each.
The voices of such men as Chatham, Wilkes and
Barre, in the English Parliament, were impotent.
There was no mercy to be shown to rebels; they were
outside of the pale of humanity — their crime did not
entitle them to " the benefit of clergy."
It is therefore not a matter of surprise that the
savage, nerved up to acts of cruelty by the example of
a nation professing to be governed by rules of Christi-
anity, and basking in the sunshine of a high civiUza-
tion, would stop to scrutinize the mode or manner of
THE HARVEST OF SCALPS. 203
executing his new calling. His well strung girdle (jf
reeking scalps was not ornamental merely to the
savage warrior, but it jossesscd a specific vnlue in
pounds, shillings and pence — which the British trea-
sury paid on the production of the article.
The dull and obtuse faculties of the Indian m'nd
could not be made to comprehend that there was any
immorality in the mere act of murdering the victim
for the value of the scalp upon his head, when the
transaction received the endorsement of so renowned a
dignitary as George III.
The conduct, therefore, of this inhuman prince
gave license to the commission of the most terrible
and revolting brutalities. He gathered his harvest of
three hundred scalps at the massacre of Wyoming —
and while this scene was being transacted upon the
Susquehanna, his friend Brandt strung upon his belt
two hundred and ninety-four, taken from the heads of
the defen ;eless people of Schoharie, upon the Mc^hawk.
In the two expeditions under the orders of his
Majesty, one intrusted to " Mr. Butler," on the Sus-
quehanna, and the other intrusted to " Mr. Brandt,"
on the Mohawk, his royal tannery was rft])lenished
with about six hundred fresh scalps; some of them, it
is true, from the heads of women and children, but
all in a good state of preservation — all marketable !
Now when we consider that this course of conduct
was in the eighteenth century, and in not merely a
civilized but an enlightened age, we are confounded
204 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH,
and amazed. There is one redeeming feature in it,
however, and which, will ever redound to the honor
of English statesmen, that the high-toned men of the
Lords and Commons denounced the act of their Sov-
ereign in the most bitter and scathing invective.
The untutored wild man of the woods, without
the pale of civilization as to the knowledge even of an
accountability to a supreme ruler in the world to
come, or being clothed with the mantle of Chris-
tianity, may plead these things in palliation of his
beastly murders; but with the memory of Greorge
III. est the curses and anathemas of the enlightened
world.
Immediately succeeding the Indian battle where
the great harvest of scalps had been reaped by Butler
and his allies, bands of straggling, marauding Indians
and Tories commenced their incursions upon the now
desolate people of the desolate valley of Wyoming.
Colonel Zebulon Butler was in command of the
fortifications, but his force was inadequate to suppress
the raids which were frequently made by the enemy;
and instances of murder and capture were often occur-
ring within sight of the people in these fortifications.
The following letter from Washington, in reply to
one from Colonel Zebulon Butler asking for aid, I
found many years since among some old papers of
Colonel Butler. It has never before been published.
The original is still in my library, and is in a perfect
state of preservation.
Washington's letter. 205
" Headquarteks, )
" MoRRiSTOWN, April 7, 1780. )
" Sir : I received yesterday your letter of the 2d instant, and
am extremely sorry to find that parties of the enemy have appeared
and committed hostilities in the neighborhood of Wyoming. It is
not in my power to afford any troops from the army, and I should
hope those already there, and the inhabitants, -will be able to repel
at least incursions by light parties.
" It was my intention, as I informed you, that you should join
your regiment immediately after your return : however, I am in-
clined from the face of things to let you continue where you are for
the present, and you will remain till further orders. Should fur-
ther depredations and mischief be committed by the enemy, you
will take occasion to inform me of them.
" I am, sir,
" Your most obedient servant,
" G-. Washington."
" To Colonel Zebulon Sutler."
This letter fully shows that the people of the
valley could not depend upon Washington for any as-
sistance. The defense of the valley was left with
Colonel Butler, his command consisting of Captain
Spalding's company, composed of the remnant of the
two independent companies of Durkee and Eansom,
with a few stragglers which Sullivan had left the year
previous. Death and slaughter had intimidated the
living, and the people were a helpless prey to the pre-
datory hands of Tories and Indians who were contin-
ually prowling ahout the valley. And it now became
the lot of our townspeople to submit to their share of
the pains and penalties in reserve for them,
John Perkins, a Plymouth man, was murdered by
the Indians on the seventeenth of November, 1778,
908 HISTORICAL SKKTOHK^ OF ri.YMOUTH.
in tlie lowvr oud ot' t\\o township, s^liartly after the
battle.
In ^[aivli tollowiiig. « lv\ud of twenty ImUaus aj>-
pmiwl on the Kingston ^ido of tUo river, iu sidght of
the Wilkos-Bai-re fort» iu bivad dnvUght, and miir-
dorxxl tlirw \'aluablo eitinons: Mr. l\Hhu Williams,
Lioutoiiaut l>uok aud ^Ir. Stophou Tot ti bono. Fivd-
crick FoUots who w-;\« with thonv, fell pierced hy
so\Ttt w\>uud$ frvnn a spear, and with the otliers
Avas sealjKHl and k^llt ^n* dead. Instantly a det^veli-
meut of men an-^is sent over: the Indians had tU\l.
Folletj sweltering in hkx>d, g^>ve signs of lite and wi\s
taken to the f^wt Dr. William Hooker Smith, on
e^imining his w\ninds, Sivid that while everything
sJiould he done that kindness and skill could sug-
gests he reguixicvl his recvn-ery a^ hopelesis. Yet he
did recover. One spear thrust havl penetrated the
sitomach, so that its contents oame out at his side,
^[r. Follet KwhI tor n\any \-ears, and ivmoveil to
Ohio, wheiv he lett a lai-gv family. — Mithr's Uiiiorj/f
p. :263,
It w>nild attoixl me much pkwsure to spciik of Dr.
William H\vker ti^mith at length. He wjs the pion-
eer physician of tlie Mvlloy ; a man of gvod q^nalidca-
tions as a physician juid surgeon, and possessed of a
knowledge of the prv.>siH»ctive value of anthracite coal
llu* K\vond his contemporaries. The mimeivns deevis
made to him in earlv days of Cv>al privilegvs and min-
eral rights, pro\-e him to have been a man of great
ornt, PKon-K m Indian DAi-rivrrv. 207
forocuHl- und houihI jii(lji,iii()ni. IliH liiHi-ory, liowcvcr,
d()(3H not proporly coino wiUiin our liniiiH.
Elilm WilliairiH whh n IMymoiilJi iii;ui. \\\h hod.
liad TalNiii in Uk; iiuiHHucn) tlio your proviouH. 'Vho
rvH\{\vA\vA'. of Uio WilliairiH (iirnily, and wJi(!ro the llov.
])ariiiH WillianiM, a (l(!H(!(!n(Iaiil;, livod for many yoarH,
WiiH on Mi(! HodlJi Hide- oC l\u) riyiiioiilJi roiid NiJidiiij^
iVoni WilkdH-liai'ro io Kosh J I ill, and immediately
l)()low ilio mjuiliino nliopR ol.' tlio Jiackawarina and
BlooniKhur^ Railroad Company.
J)fi,riiiH WillianiM waM (or many y(!ari-! a local M(!ili-
odist Ej)iHcopal jmsachor, and a man of Htronj^ nrind
and pocnliar j)ow(!rs of pnljnt (ihxpKinco. Tho writer
haH ort(!n Iniard liim prcauli. lie had ^reat oarnoRt-
ness of mantKir, and his language wan Kirorig and well
choH(ui. lie oarnod, and wv,vy jiiHtly too, the repu-
tation of not only being a good and ex(;mplary man,
but also of poHsoKHing a high order of tahints. Ho
died at the old homoHtcad, probably about thirty
yoarH ago.
Oa[)tain danuis ]>idlac;k, a IMymonth, man, father
oC tlve (Japtain rramen liidlaek who fell in I ho Wyo-
ming ])attle, at tin; head of l)iK oompany, waH taken
prisoiKM- on the second of March, 1779, in the upper
end of the township. ITo made liis escape, or was re-
leased about a year afterwards.
Captain ]5idlack had anotlici- son, tlnj ]1(}V. Ben-
jamin Bidlaek, who served the whole period of the
Kevolutionary war, and wn.s diflehargcnl at Yorktown
18
HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF rLYMOtJTH.
upon the surrender of Gorn-wallis. The Eev. Benja-
min Bidlack resided many years in a small log house
on the north side of the main road, immediately below
the Joseph AVright homestead. My mother, now liv-
ing at an advanced age, informs me that Mr. Bidlack
occupied this house when she fii-st went to Plymouth
to live^ about the year 1795 ; that Mr. Bidlack was
then a Methodist preacher, and travelled the circuit.
I shall have occasion to speak of him hereafter.
Our local historians agree mainly as to the circum-
stances attending the capture of Kogers, Tan Campen
and Fike, but they are wide apart as to the incidents
attending their release and escape. 3Iy o^^-n memory
i& somewhat imperfect as to the account I have heard
of the circumstances, though I have probably listened
to Mr. Eogers" statement of them more than a score
of times. But this is long ago, fifty yeare at least.
I shall, however, rely more upon my own memory — as
I have learned the story from the actors of the drama
— than the written accoimts of it by others.
A band of ten Indians, on the tAventy-seventh of
March, 17S0, made their appearance in Hanover.
This was ten days preceding the date of the letter I
have introduced from Greneral Washington to Colonel
Zebulon Butler; and their acts, together with another
band of six. who made their appearance on the same
day in Kingston, carrying off three prisoners, proba-
bly gave lise to the correspondence. The ten who
visits Hanovex shot and kiUed Asa Upson about two
ABEAHAM PIKE, THE INDIAN KILLER. 209
miles below Wilkes-Barre, on the main road. On
the day following, two men were engaged in making
sugar near Nanticoke : one of them was killed on the
spot, the other taken prisoner. This was the work of
the same party, undoubtedly; the man taken prisoner
was never heard of again. On the twenty-ninth they
passed over the river, near Fish Island, and found Jo-
nah Rogers, a boy then fourteen years of age, who
had been sent by his parents on an errand to the
lower end of the valley. They took Eogers and went
down the river to Fishing Creek, in the vicinity of
Bloomsburg, and on the following day they surprised
the family of the Van Campens. Moses Van Campen,
a young, athletic man, they took prisoner, having
murdered and scalped his father, his brother, and his
uncle. On the same day they captured a boy by the
name of Pence, whom Eogers says was older than
he— probably eighteen years of age. From Fishing
Creek they passed northerly through Huntington.
Here they were opposed by a scout of four men under
the direction of John Franklin. A skirmish ensued;
two of Franklin's men were wounded. The Indian
party being too numerous for Franklin to contend
with, they continued on to what is known as " Pike's
Swamp," in the southern part of what is now
Lehman township. Here they found Abraham Pike,
a Plymouth man— and known for the rest of his life
as '^The Indian Killer" — and his wife, makinc^ su^^ar
Mrs. Pike had an infant some four months old.
210 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Here they staid over night. In the morning they
took Pike and his wife prisoners; binding the child
up in a blanket, they threw it on the roof of the
sugar cabin and hastened on with their prisoners. The
lamentations of Mrs. Pike for her poor child, thus left to
exposure and certain death, seemed to excite the feel-
ings of the savages. After travelling a few miles
they halted, and upon consultation, they painted Mrs.
Pike, saying, "joggo squaw" — go home, woman.
She returned to her cabin, got her child, and fled to
the settlement and gave the alarm; but the Indians
were out of reach.
It is an interesting fact that the bottom logs of
this old cabin are still visible; and a gentleman in-
forms me, who visited the spot within the last year,
that in the centre of it stands a beech tree some two
feet in diameter. Ninety-one years is a long time for
the foundation logs of Pike's cabin to resist the en-
croachment of the seasons. I remember seeing it a
great many years since : it was then three or four
courses of logs high.
About the third of April, they encamped for the
night upon the Susquehanna, some fifteen or twenty
miles below Tioga Point. The Indians feeling that
they were now safe from pursuit, and upon the bor-
ders of their own possessions, made arrangements for
a night of quiet repose. Not so with Abraham Pike;
he was a British deserter. He had fought under that
flag at Bunker Hill, and received a wound there. An
ABRAHAM PIKE. 211
Irisliman by birth, and full of the idea of liberty, he
made his escape and volunteered for a term of two years
in the American army, at the end of which time he
came to the Susquehanna. He had also been in the
battle of Wyoming, thus not only deserting the
British ranks, but having openly fought against the
British flag.
His Indian captors knew these things. He was
now on the way to the British lines, and he would
soon be handed over to the men whose cause he had
abandoned. He knew his fate; his position was one
of desperation. We may, therefore, readily understand
who was the originator of the bold scheme which took
place on the night of that encampment. There was no
one of the party who had the same issue at stake that
he had, and we must rely upon the statement of Sog-
ers and Pike, in opposition to that of Van Campen.
The two former died before the latter, and he strange-
ly asserted the claim of the whole credit of the es-
cape, and there was no one to contradict.
As I have had the story from Mr, Eogers, he says :
" That in the afternoon of the day before we reached
the place of encampment, we came to a stream; I
was tired and fatigued with the journey; my feet
were sore, and I was just able to proceed; Pike told
the chief of the gang that he ' would carry me over
on his shoulders.' The old chief in a gruff voice, said
^ well.' Pike whispered in my ear as we were crossing
the stream : ' Jonah, don't close your eyes to-night;
212 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
wh.en they sleep take tlie hiife from the chief's helt
and cut the cords ivith ivhicJi I am hound.' I was
the only one of the prisoners who was not bound, and
every night the old chief toot me under his blank-
et. The nights were cold and raw, and though pro-
tected in this way, I thought that I should perish."
This much of the project was communicated to the
other prisoners by Pike. Towards nightfall, they
halted on the banks of the river, kindled the camp
fire, partook of their meal, and were soon extended
upon the ground, five Indians upon each side and the
four prisoners in the middle.
Mr. Eogers says : ' ' In a few moments the old
chief was asleep, and in the course of half an hour, the
savages were all snoring, but he knew his friends
were awake, from their occasional half-suppressed
cough. Pike was the nearest to me, and not over two
feet in distance. It was a terrific efibrt for me to
make up my mind to perform my part of the business,
for I knew that instant death would be the penalty in
a failure. But as the time passed on, and the snor-
ing of the savages grew louder, my courage seemed to
gather new strength. I had noticed that when the old
chief laid down, that the knife in his belt was on his
side next to me. I peered out from under the blank-
et and I saw the embers of the fire still aglow, and a
partial light of the moon. I also saw the hands of
Pike elevated. I thought the time had come, and
these two hours of suspense I had passed were more
STATEMENT OF JONAH EOGEES. 213
terrible than all the rest of my life put together. I
cautiously drew the knife from the scabbard in the
old chiefs belt, and creeping noiselessly out from under
the blanket, I passed over to Pike, and severed the
cords from his hands.
" All was the silence of death, save the gurgling
noise of the savages in their sleep. Pike cut the
cords that bound the other prisoners. We were now
all upon our feet. The first thing was to remove the
guns of the Indians ; the work for us to do was to be
done with tomahawks and knives. The guns were
carefully removed out of sight, and each of us had a
tomahawk. Van Campen placed himself near the old
chief and Pike over another. I was too young for
the encounter, and stood aloof. I saw the tomahawks
of Pike and Van Campen flash in the dim light of the
half- smouldering flames ; the next moment the crash
of two terrible blows ; these were followed in quick
succession, when seven of the ten arose in a state of
momentary stupefaction and bewilderment, and then
came the hand-to-hand conflict in the contest for life.
But our enemy was without arms, still they were not
disposed to yield. Pence, however, seizing one of the
guns, fired and brought down his man, making four
killed, and two of them were very dangerously
wounded; they fled with a tenific yell on the report
of the gun. As they were retreating. Van Campen
hurled his tomahawk, which buried itself in the shoul-
ders of one of the retreating foe. And this Indian,
214 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OP PLYMOUTH.
I \?ith the temble scar in his shoulder-blade, I saw
years afterwards, and who ackuowledired that he irot
the woimd npou this occasion."
This is the ston*, as near as my memory retains
it, and which I have so often heard from the hps of
my old school-master, Jonah Eogers. It would ap-
pear from this that four were killed, six escaped,
three of whom wei^e woimded, two probably tatally.
Tan Campen represents that the whole number
were killed, and chielly by his own hands. This is
wholly improbable, and it is a matter of much doubt
if any one of the prisoners knew precisely the condi-
tion of the battle-field after the conflict. It was
light: it was of com-se the most exciting state of
afiaii-s in which men could possibly be placed.
The prisoners, now free, collected together imme-
diately the arms of their savage captors, their blank-
ets, the scalps of their friends, and the provisions at
hand, and left the camp. In the morning they
found a canoe. Getting into this they pHed the pad-
dles with celerity, and, in two days after, were at the
fort at Wilkes-Barre.
It is untbrtunate that there should have been any
spirit of rivalry on the part of Tan Campen, induc-
ing him either to confuse the state of facts connect-
ed with this g"allant exploit, or by misrepresentation,
to have diminished its thiiUing charact^^r. There
was glory enough for them all.
I knew Abraham Pike well, and towards the close
COLONEL JENKINS' MEMORANDUM. 215
of his life, I made several attempts to get Ms version
of this startling adventure; but lie became extremely-
intemperate in his old age, and his mind was im-
paired and his eye wandered in vacancy, and he
failed to give a satisfactory statement. But his ac-
count of the affair, as I have heard it from others,
agrees substantially with that given by Rogers.
I am inclined to make him the hero of the trans-
action, and I think the facts fully sustain the con-
clusion.
Colonel Jenkins — and who by the way may be
regarded as a safe authority, a man of much intelli-
gence, and one of the leading men in those days in
the valley — says in a memorandum made by him at
the time : " Pike, and two men from Fishing Creek,
and two boys that were taken by the Indians, made
their escape by rising on the ground, killed three, and
the rest took to the woods and left the prisoners with
twelve guns,'' etc.
This statement very nearly agrees with the ac-
count of Mr. Rogers which I have given, with the
exception of making one prisoner more and one In-
dian killed, less.
Van Campen, as late as 1837, in his petition to
Congress for a pension, — in which he gives a narrative
of the transaction, — represents himself as the prin-
cipal man, giving Pence some credit, but stating
that the others were terrified and inactive. At this
time he was the only survivor, and the mouths of
216 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
his fellow-prisonei'S wore sealed. AVe eau afford to
allow an old man — ;iud at the time in poverty — con-
siderable of a margin, Init we can harc^y jnstify him
in so gross a misrepresentation of the ease. Mr. Mi-
ner thinks '• there was honor enongh for all, and that
there could be no motive but excessive self-gloritication
for representing Pike and Rogers as cowards."
Eogers does not pretend that he took an active
part in the melee, but the share assigned to him — •
considering that he was but a lad of fourteen years —
was performed with great adroitness and uncommon
courage.
The statements of Pike and Eogers connected
with the journal of Colonel Jenkins, agreeing with
them in the main features, must establish the true
history of the matter.
Reviewing the whole subject from this stand-
point, it presents a case of the exhibition of won-
derful courage based upon a cool, deliberate, and daring
resolution. This fearless and courageous act, accom-
panied at about the same time by a corresponding
one by Bennett and the prisoner arrested with him
in Kingston, and attended with nearly the same re-
sults, served as a salutary check to Indian incursions.
While prisoners were taken afterwards, there were no
such acts of brutality attending them as were prac-
tised by the band who arrested Pike and his com-
panions.
Poor old Abraham Pike, who had been a ser-
ABRAHAM PIKE. 217
geant in the Britinh army — a soldier of the Revolu-
tion — fought bravely in the Wyoming battle ; a Hcout
for Sullivan's army in its expedition into the Indian
country, became in the latter years of his life a wan-
dering mendicant, going from door to door for charity,
and finally died a pauper, by the roadside, November
eleventh, 1834, with no kindly hand even to close
his eyes after his spirit had departed. Ills habits of
extreme intemperance in his old age had blasted and
destroyed a mind quick, discriminating, and very
sensitive to honor ; and utterly prostrated a stout
and well-knit frame, which in its hour of develop-
ment had undergone great hardships and endured
the most oppressive fatigues.
It is probable that there is no one left in the val-
ley who can point out the spot where repose the bones
of the old " Indian killer."
Jonah Rogers remained in Plymouth till within a
few years before his death, when he removed to the
Township of Huntington. He was a man highly re-
spected, as also a man of comfortable means. His
death occurred about the year 1825, though as to
this, I speak only from vague memory. His residence
was upon the back road, about midway between those
of the late Calvin Wadhams and Captain James Nes-
bitt. But I suppose this designation will hardly be
intelligible to the majority of the people of Plymouth
of this day.
Pike may be said to have had no residence during
218 HISTOBICAL SKETCHES OF PLTSfOrTH.
the last years of Ms life. He "^as a Tvanderer, and
while his citizenship was in our town, the bine vanlt
of heaven was the roof, and the soHd earth the floor,
of his cabin.
There is one circinnstance which is related both
hy Pike and Bogers, which does not reflect mnch
credit npon Tan Campen, and weakens materially his
credibility in the narrative which he fnmishes ns.
Oa the night of their escape from the Indian
camp. Eogers became so disabled that he could not
walk. Tan Campen proposed to leave the boy in the
wilderness, and the rest of them make their jonmey
withont him. To this proposition Pike solemnly pro-
tested, and said " that he wonld carry the boy back
to his parents or he wonld die with him." And he
accordingly took him upon his shonlders, and thns
saved him from desertion, and very likely, from death.
Probably this circnm stance shonld not now be
noted, as all the parties are dead; and my only excuse
is that Tan Campen, in his published statement,
deliberately branded Pike and Eogers with cowardice.
The capture and arrest of the two Messrs. Harvey,
Colonel Eansom and the two young women, Louis
Harvey and Lucy "Rn 11 ford, are not involved in any
questions of doubt or perplexity.
Benjamin Harvey was an aged man at the battle
of Xanticoke, December twenty-fifth, 1775. He had
three sons, Benjamin, of Captain Eansom's Indepen-
dent Company, Eevolutionary service, who died at
V
BEXJAMrS" HARTEY. 219
Valley Forge from the severity of tlie winter; Silas,
who fell in Captain Whittlesey's company at the bat-
tle of Wyoming; and Elisha, father of the gentleman
of that name, and till yery recently a resident of Ply-
mouth.
Old Benjamin Harvey resided in 1780 in a log
honse standing on a little elevated spot on the north
side of the main road, opposite the old Indian burial-
groimd, and between the Christian Church edifice and
the small stream I have heretofore noticed.
On a cool evening on the sixth of December, 1780,
the elder Mr. Harvey, his son Elisha. Miss Lucy Bull-
ford and his daughter Louis, and George Palmer
Kansom,were seated around a bright wood fire in the
house I have named. Colonel Ransom was then a
young man of some twenty years, of pleasant personal
address, had been with his father in the Revolution-
ary war acting in the capacity of orderly-sergeant, and
gained some credit for his valor at Millstone, Bound-
brook, Germantown and Braudywine. On this even-
ing he put on his best regimentals and went up to
Mr. Harvey's, as he has frequently told the writer, " a
sj)arl'i?ig." Now this word, which in old times meant
the civil attentions of a young gentleman to a young
lady with a view of marriage, if all things went on
mutually agreeable, is not probably quite so euphoni-
ous as our word courting, yet still its significance is
entitled to the same consideration.
. Our young soldier, dressed in his blue coat, with
220 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF FLTMOrXH.
biiff lappels and gilt buttons, had just made Ms
best bow and laid aside his cocked hat, when there
was a gentle knock at the door: but while the knock
was just audible, the party inside knew that it did not
proceed from the knuckles of a closed baud. There
was a shriller tone to the sound, verr much as though
it were made with the head of a tomahawk. The
practised eaar becomes rerr sensitive in discriminating
sounds.
The partr about the fire looked at each other, and
read in e^ch others looks •■the cause of that alarm."
Old Mr. Harver broke the silence br saving, '•' they
had better invite them in, as resistance might make
the matter worse;" and as the £;entle knock was a^ain
repeated, he bade them enter.
A band of six Jndians came in. and immediately
b,nmd the whole party and set out towards Canada.
This was the route the Indian always travelled with
his bale of scalps, or with his prisoners of war. There
his friends resided, and there his human peltry
brought a better price than in any other market of the
world, barbarous or enlightened.
Arriving on the top of the Shawnee mountain —
and out of danger of immediate pursuit — the party
made a halt for consultation. Of the Indians, one of
them was past middle age, two others were some years
younger, and the remaining three were mere youths,
this probably being one of their first expeditions.
To the credit of himianitv. this consultation re-
EELEASE OF THE YOUNG WOMEN. 221-
suited in the release of the two young women. The
old chief taking them aside from the rest of the party,
painted their faces in true Indian style, and dis-
charged them in the dark and gloomy wilderness, with
directions to go to Colonel Butler, and tell him that
" / put on this paint." To this they did not, of
course, take exceptions; so parting with their friends,
whom they never again expected to see, they cjm-
menced their descent down the mountain, arriving at
the fort at Wilkes-Barre on the following morning.
The cannon was fired as the signal of alarm, but the
captors and the captured were by this time far on their
journey, and out of the sound even of the signal which
fell upon the ears of the people of the valley as a no-
tification, that somebody had been murdered or car-
ried into captivity; a sound that not unfreq[uently in-
formed them of terrible deeds as well as reminded
them of human suffering and woe during the three
years immediately succeeding that fearful massacre
upon the Wyoming battle-field. The report of the
cannon meant torture, death or bondage.
The Indians and their prisoners moved on their
trail after the girls had been released. The inclem-
ency of the weather, or the snows and the wilderness
were obstacles not to be considered. They travelled
on that night, and the close of the day which fol-
lowed brought the party to the head waters of the
Mehoopany Creek, which empties into the Susc[uehan-
na, some fifteen miles above Tunkhannock.
nr§TOTU0AT. Sv \ > OF rwMorTii.
Bonjaixiin Harwy wass an old, RvWo luaiu and not
al>lo to nuvt tho oxpo$ui\^s ho had aU\\uiy iuounxHi.
Ho \\-^\.« noavly «»o>v\\tY vxwi"^ of j\^\ It w»^ ovidoiit
that lio OvMiId not ondwv tho iwiuvh vm\ tho tollowinij
iuvM'niusi\
At>or $jHM\dh\g tho ov>Ul at\d chilly uight of D^
^viulvr a$ thoy Ix^^t ovmld, in tho morning tho IwdJaiis
hold a OvHinoil of w^U" iv^? to what wa^j to W douo with
old Mr. Hai'\w. Tho valuo of his siulp iu tho British
luarivOt pn^poixdoratod tho soah^ against his liio. The
Sin-;\iivs IxMrndhim to a trxv with though. and fastonod
his hoad in a jx^sition that ho ovnild noithor mow to
tho right nor to tho lot>. Tho old chiof thou iuea«-
nrod otf tho gTv^nnd somo throo rvxis^ callod tho thre«
>\ning hv?n-os, and placing a tomahawk iu tho hand of
0{\oh and stopping a^j^ido, pointoil his tingvr to tho ho«\d
of tho old nmn. All this Avas dono in sOoni.^ iu\d
xrithont tho loast omotion dojnetod npon thoir stoic
ovMintonanvVi?.
Tho tirst ono hxirlod his tmnahawk — aftor givii\g
tNY.^ or tlnvo flonrishos in tho air — with a piercing
whov>p. It fexstonovl itsiolf in the tiwo, tivo or six
inches alxnie tho old man's hoad. Tho siwnd and
thinl made tho same otlort, but with liko ot^vt ! The
vrholo Indiaix p\rty now Kx^arao turious; tho young
Ax-arrioTs, ^^r their want of skill in this^probixbly their
tii-st otVort, and the ohler OT\es fivm some other im-
pulse. An angry s<.vne etisutxl. and they eame nojvrly
to blows. The old chiof approached the victinj» unt-
I'.I';n./amin iiAkVKV. 223
looHoncd liiH 1>;iii(Jh, iukI jjoiiiiijij^ l,o ilio iruil ilicy had
paHHful ovor, told liim io "f^o." TIk; n;Hi of iln? (xiriy
]ii()V(mI Hiilli;iily on Uicir way, jijkI old Mr. Ihuvcy
took IjIh.
TIk! old ^•(!iiM(!iii!in ir) ^'iviiiMun uccoujil/ ofMiinHMid,
" iliui iiH <',ii(!ii toirijiliiiwk (;afn<; whizziiij.'; iliroij^li ifif;
uir, il, H<^<;nH'(| ,'i,h Uioiij'li if. could iiol, IhiL Hplit liiK
hoad in I, wo. [V\\ti\, ho far aH ho could iiiidcn-)l,aiid
from ilic ludiari diH[)ul-(! — haviiij^ HoriK! knowlcdi^'o of
Ihcii' laii^iia^fi, l,lioii}i;li irr)[)(',i('(;c(,- — Ukj old cliicT look
ili(! fj;roiiiid Miiit, "I.Ik; (;!rc.;i,i S[>iril. Ii;i,d irilc ifcrcd ;uid
j)r(!V(;ni(;d liiK (Jcaili," wliilc l,lic oMictH iiripiil,<',(| il,
wholly (,o l,li(! (iM[)rucl,iKcd liarKlH (d" Uic youii^j; hravcH,
and thai; "the (;!i(!a(, Hpiril/ had no liiiiid in the
maiicr." The Hl.uhhorti will oC ilic old HJicheiri, liow-
(!vcr, pHivailcd, and l,hoMj^h in IJk; ininofily, JiiH c(>un-
Hcl in tlxi idTair dccid(;d IJk; inHU*;.
Mr. Ilarv<!y, Uiroii<.^h laii^nK; and wcarincsH, and
tin; (dfccl, of i\\(', icrrihhi Khocl< l,o his n';rvcH, [>ccarno
l)(3wil(lcrcd, and aftor f ravelling.'; Uic whole (hty found
liirnHclf at ni^'ht at the f)oint iVom wfiiefi lie lia(J net
out on iliat fiarCid niorninf^. Ovorcorno with (jxliauH-
tion, he r<'.l<indlcd the fire at the oncampment of the
lii^'ld, before, !i,rid on the followinj^ rriornin^; Htail<d
with a better f)rospeet, aH hi! thoiJ<.';ht, of finding- hifi
way ont of tli(i woodn.
JI(j wandered the nioKt of that day witlxjiit any
"better proKpoct, and by tliin tinx; hun</;er be^an to
make ]ond d(!rnandH npon hiK already (jxhaanted
224 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
frame. Towards evening a small dog came to him.
This was a subject of alarm as well as comfort. He
did not know who might Be the owner of the poor
creature. The dog stuck to his new friend, as he
supposed, i. e., if instinct can form conclusions —
a matter somewhat doubted now, but may not al-
ways be.
On the third morning, still travelling without any
idea of his whereabouts, following the example of
Byron's shipwrecked crew who dined upon poor " Pe-
drillo," he made a meal of his new friend, saving the
remainder of the carcass for future necessities. On
the fourth day, however, he came to the river, and
getting upon a float, arrived safely at the fort at
Wilkes-Barre, where he met his daughter and Miss
BuUford, with whom he had parted on the Shawnee
mountain.
Our Indians travelled on with Eansom and Elisha
Harvey towards their point of destination. The only
incidents I shall notice were, that the old chief would
make Ransom, who was a good marksman, shoot a
horse or two on their long journey for their commissa-
^ riat, and require him to make the fires and prepare
the banquet, giving him secretly now and then, as a
mark of especial favor, a pinch of salt with which to
flavor his diet of horse meat ! The regimentals made
an easy disposition of Ransom; when they reached the
British lines he was handed over to the servants of
King George, and sent to a prison at Montreal. Foi
ELISHA HARVEY. 225
the present we leave Mm and follow Harvey to tlie
far distant waters of Green Bay.
Harvey liad not yet reached his majority; he was
about seventeen years of age. Young, sprightly and
active, he won upon the good opinion of his master,
who proved to be a sachem of the Seneca tribe, and
had been with his people two years before at the Wy-
oming battle. The three young Indians were noviti-
ates, whom this brave had taken out on their first
expedition. It was well for old Mr. Harvey that they
had not yet become proficient in hurling the toma-
hawk.
During the remainder of the winter our prisoner
remained with the Seneca chief, and in the spring fol-
lowing, a large Indian party set out for Green Bay to
spend the summer and following autumn in hunting
game.
The expedition turned out very favorably, and in
the beginning of winter the party returned to Mon-
treal. Here the Indians disposed of their furs, but
in the course of a month they had used up the pro-
ceeds in riot and dissipation. Our Seneca brave be-
gan casting about for a market for his prisoner, which
he found became necessary, as he had not the means
of subsistence for himself, much less for poor Harvey.
He finally stumbled on a Scotchman, who was a
small dealer in Indian commodities, and after a half
day's bantering and talk, in which the good qualities
of Harvey were highly extoUed by the old chiefj they
226 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
at last settled upon the price to be paid for Elisha,
wliicli was a half-barrel of rum !
He now went behind the counter of his new mas-
ter, and was duly installed in the mysteries and se-
crets of an Indian trader. Among the first lessons
he learned the important fact that the hand weighed
two pounds and the foot four ! Under this system of
avoirdupois there never occurred any fractions. The
weight always came out in even pounds ! Human
peltry went by the piece; the peltry of beasts by the
pound. Our Scotch merchant did not deal in the
former; the depot for it was over the way, and a gen-
tleman with a red coat and lace collar stood at the
counter, in that estabhshment, to wait on his cus-
tomers.
Our prisoner became a great favorite with his new
master, who was a bachelor, and promised to make
him the heir of his estate if he would assume his
name and become his child by adoption. EKsha
openly favored the idea, but his secret thoughts were
centred on old Shawnee. He managed to communi-
cate with his family; and his father, in 1782, pro-
cured his exchange for a British prisoner held at the
Wilkes-Barre fort by Colonel Butler.
The authority upon which this exchange was
made is still in existence — a venerable looking
paper, now in the custody of Jameson Harvey, the
son of our prisoner, and which he has permitted me
to copy.
RELEASE OF ELISHA HARVEY. 227
" These certify that Adam Bowman, now a pris-
oner of war to the United States of Amearica, was
taken by the Inhabitants of Westmoreland and
brought to this Garrison some time in 1780, when I
commanded this post; and upon application made to
me by Mr. Benjamin Harvey, for the prisoner, to send
him to Montreal in exchange for his son there, and
yet in captivity. Which request I granted, and Mr.
Harvey, at his own expense, did take the prisoner from
this place to Saratoga for the above purpose. I have
been informed that he has for some reason been sent
from there down to West Point, or its vicinity, and I
should yet request that Mr. Harvey may be indulged
with the prisoner for the purpose of redeeming his son.
"Zeb'n Butler, 4ih Connecticut Begiment.
"July 29th, 1782.
" To the officers in whose custody the prisoner may be "
From the date of Colonel Butler's order, it will be
seen that Elisha Harvey had been a prisoner for nearly
two years. In the first effort of conducting Bowman
from Wilkes-Barre to Canada, it appears that under
some question of the legality of his papers, the pris-
oner had been taken from him on his arrival at Sara-
toga and sent to West Point. Upon the return of
Mr. Harvey, and procuring the letter already re-
corded, he went back to West Point, and taking Bow-
man with him to Montreal, procured the release and
exchange of his son.
228 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Notwithstanding the many hair-breadth escapes
of Elisha Harvey, it was his destiny to die a natural
death in Plymouth, at his long-occupied and peaceful
home, in the lower end of the town, in March, 1800.
I am not able to say whether the old stone tenement still
stands; probably not, as progress has big eyes glaring
in every direction where a dollar can be made, without
regard to the memory of the living or the dead; and
it would be exceedingly strange if what was once the
rather aristocratical stone mansion, in early days, of
Elisha Harvey, had not disappeared. I do not like to
make the inquiry whether the old house stiU stands.
I am afraid that along with the old threshing-floor
and the stone barricade, between the two chestnuts,
this too had disappeared under the itching palms of
modern levelling hands.
And now let us visit Montreal and find what has
become of our prisoner in the Continental uniform —
the boy who went " a sparking " at a terrible discount^
as the sequel too plainly showed.
Ransom and the other American prisoners at Mon-
treal were removed in February, 1781, to Prisoner's
Island, situate some fifty miles above Montreal ; and
as an account of this imprisonment was given at
length by Colonel Ransom to Mr. Miner, which was
reduced to writing at the time, and pubhshed un-
der the head of " The Hazleton Travellers," I shall
give his text up to that time, in the narrative, when he
swam the St. Lawrence; from that up to his restora-
COLONEL ransom's STATEMENT. 229
tion to his friends^ and as to subsequent events,! shall
rely on my own memory, as I have frequently heard
them from his own lips, being his next door neighbor
for a period of twenty years, and intimately ac-
quainted with him for more than thirty years.
He says: — "In February, 1781, I was in Canada,
forty-five miles up the St. Lawrence river from Mon-
treal, on an island with about one hundred and sixty-
six American prisoners. We were guarded by the ref-
ugees, or what was called Tories, who belonged to Sir
John Johnson's Second Eegiment. The commanding
officer of the guard on the island was a young Scotch
officer by the name of MacAlpin, about eighteen
years of age. The winter was very severe, and a great
snow-storm drifted before the door of the guard, who
sent for some of the American prisoners to shovel it
away. They refused, saying that they were prisoners
of war, and he had no right to set them to work for
his pleasure. Enraged at this, the officer ordered
them into irons, and directed others to get shovels and
go to work; these also refused, and were put in irons.
" So he went on commanding and meeting with
resolute disobedience to what they considered a tyran-
nical order. They had taken up arms and perilled
their lives to resist British tyranny, and would not
now, though prisoners, submit to it. Some were
ironed together; thus he kept putting into irons as
long as he had handcuffs left. Among the last who
refused were myself and one William Palmeters, We
230 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
were then put into an open house, without door, floor
or windows, and directions given that we should have
neither \dctuals, brandy nor tobacco; but our faithful
friends contrived to evade the guard, and we were
furnished with all. There we remained all night, suf-
fering extremely from the cold.
" The next morning MacAlpin came, thinking our
spirits were broken, and demanded if we would not
shovel snow ? One word all answered: ' Not by order
of a d — d Tory ! ' He then took us out of that place
and put us in a hut just finished, with a good floor,
and we sent for a black man, a good fiddler, for we
had two on the island. We then opened our ball,
dancing, to keep ourselves warm, jigs, hornpipes, four
and six-handed reels. Where four were ironed to one
bar, they could dance the cross-handed, or what we
called the York reel.
" We continued in this merry mood till our Scotch
gentleman found the place was too good for us. He
then took us out and put us into the loft of one of the
hufcs, which stood so low that a man could stand up
only under the centre of the ridge. Here we were kept
in extreme suflering two days and two nights. In the
mean time MacAlpin sent for Charles G-randison, our
fiddler, and ordered him to play for his pleasure. The
black went, but firmly declared that he would not play
while his fellow-prisoners were in irons. The officer
then ordered a kind of court-martial, composed of
Tories, who of course brought in the poor negro guilty.
COLONEL EANSOM's STATEMENT. 231
The sentence of tlie court was that he should be
stripped, tied up, and receive ten lashes on his naked
hack, which was done. Smarting with the lash, the
officer then demanded if he would fiddle as he was or-
dered.? 'No, not while my fellow-prisoners are in
irons ! ' Again he was tied up and ten lashes laid on,
hut his firmness was not to be shaken, and the officer
sent him to his hut.
" MacAlpin then sent a party of soldiers to bring
up some of the prisoners, several of whom were flogged
severely; and one, against whom the Tories had a par-
ticular spite, was tied neck and heels, and a rope put
around his neck, and he was thus drawn up to the
chamber floor and so kept till he was almost dead —
let down and then drawn up again.
" One John Albright, a Continental soldier, was
flogged almost to death for being a kind-hearted man
and speaking his mind freely. But no American was
found to shovel snow,
" We remained here till the ninth of June, when
myself and two others, James Butterfield and John
Brown, made our escape from the island and laid our
course for Lake Champlain. On the eleventh, at noon,
we came to the lake, and three days after we got to
Hubbardstown, Vermont; the next day to Castleton,
to a fort; from that to Pultney, where I had an uncle
living. My companions went to Albany and I to Con-
necticut."
232 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Tliis statement of facts, in a plain way, gives the
reader an idea of tlie gross and barbarons character of
tlie times as -well as the severe trials to which the
people of the last century were exposed — and es-
pecially that part of them who fell under the denomi-
nation of rebels. The gracious influences which were
produced by the elevation of the masses, in after times,
had not then become visible. The freedom of man
was the severe taunt and ridicule of tyi-ants. And if
the man of the lower orders asserted a single pri^dlege
with which nature endowed him, he became the es-
pecial object of persecution. We have abundant oc-
casion to thank the All Wise ruler of the universe
that in his Providence the result of the American Ee-
bellion placed man upon a solid, and, it is to be hoped,
a perpetual foundation of equality.
And as we, the descendants of the bold and fear-
less men who had the courage to proclaim the princi-
ples of freedom in the face and teeth of tyranny, are
now the recipients of the vast and indefinable bless-
ings which flow from the effort, should we not only
cherish but revere the memory of the men who were
the direct cause of it all ?
Colonel Eansom's statement, so far given, has but
little reference to himself. The trials he passed
through in his escape from the island during the three
days and three nights in the wilderness, before reach-
ing Lake Champlain, are not given.
IN THE WILDERNESS. 233
He passed from tke island with Butterfield and
Brown upon a rude raft wliicli they had been for sev-
eral days collecting the materials of, and concealing by
day in the sand upon the beach from the observation
of the sentinel ! When they reached the American
shore they were in a state of great exhaustion. They
had been able to procure but little food, and were
chilled through by the exposure upon the water, their
little raft with its human freight being a foot or more
submerged. When they landed, a vast wilderness lay
before them, and they were to make their experi-
mental journey without chart or compass. It was a
wilderness that had not yet been jDenetrated but by
wild beasts and savage men. They had made the
desperate effort to regain their freedom, and great ob-
stacles lay in their path; but they were young and
had the power of endurance, and so they left the
river and entered the forest before them. The thick
underbrush and swamps which they encountered
made it almost impossible at times to proceed. The
first day exhausted their slender stock of provisions,
with their keen appetite but half appeased. They
travelled with forked sticks, and with these they cap-
tured snakes and frogs, upon which they sustained
life. From fatigue and hunger one of the party gave
out, and declared that he could go no further. They
halted at a spring, and providing their sinking com-
panion with some vermin, they built a brush covering
to protect him at night, and shook hands with tears
234 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
in their eyes, and without speaking a word they sep-
arated.
" The heart feels most -wlien the lips move not."
Towards the close of their last day in the wilder-
ness, as they approached a trail or obscure path, they
saw two poor and half-starved horses browsing upon
the sparse herbage. Daylight had partially dawned.
Here was food. The first thought was to kill one of
them and satiate their ravenous cravings of appetite.
The second thought was to mount the horses, and by
giving them their own road, they might conduct them
to some habitation. This they adopted. The horses
brought them to a log hut not far distant, the only
occupant present being an old woman. Upon the
representation of their condition, she gave them each
a half pint of milk, mixed with an equal quantity of
water, and a mouthful of bread only.
They laid themselves upon the floor, but they
were awakened in the night by the most voracious
cravings of appetite. They aroused the old woman.
The small quantity of food she had given them only
enkindled the raging fire in their stomachs, and had
not in the least degree assuaged it. They told her that
she must give them some more milk, that they could
not live, and their words of entreaty assumed the
language of threats. " Well," said she, with much
composure, seated by the rude hearth, with the dim
light flickering up now and then, where she had
IN THE WILDERNESS, 235
posted herself as a kind and protecting guardian,
" you may have what IVe got to eat, and you may
dispose of it at once, but mind you, I wash my hands
of the murder which will be the result." This made
us ashamed of our conduct, and "we apologized to
the good old soul."
They finally compromised with the old lady " for
three swallows of milk each, unmixed with water, and
a piece of bread for each the size of one's hand."
" But," as I have time and time again heard it
from the old gentleman's lips, " such swallows have
never been repeated since that day when the whale
engulfed poor Jonah ! I would not have exchanged
my chances at that bowl for one of the same size
filled with diamonds."
By degrees the woman of the log hut restored
them to their usual condition. Her husband had
gone to the settlement, some twenty miles away, for
food for their household. The John Franklin of the
wilderness, or more properly, the Daniel Boone of the
frontier.
But while they were here the companion whom
they had left behind them, recovering from the stupor
in which they had left him, and reinvigorated by his
refreshing diet of vermin, took up their trail and
joined them again — an event as unexpected when
they separated as though the dead were to come to
life.
In this connection I must name one incident fresh
236 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FLYMOUTH.
in my raind : ''One day." said the old gentleman,
" faint and fhmislied by hunger, sitting upon a de-
cayed tallen tree, I saw a small striped snake make
its appearj\nee from under it. I fastened my eyes
upon the reptile and made a pass to catch it, but get-
ting hold near the t*\il in the strnggle, with the tiacht
grip I g-jire, it separated, leaving me with six or eight
inches of its little end in my hand: the rest of the
body disappeared under the tree. At this misfortune
I cried like a great booby."
In a couple of da^'s or so of kind attention by
this good Samaritan woman, they were all fully re-
stored, and being now our of the wilderness, they
begged their way to their ditierent destinations.
Buttertield and Brown went to Albany, and Kausom
to Litchtieldj Connecticut.
Soon after tJbis, Colonel Eansom returned to the
valley, joined his company — Captain Spalding's —
went from here to "West Point, where he remained to
the end of the E evolutionary struggle, and was hon-
orably discharged. He -was not in the battle of Wy-
oming. He was with Spalding's company on Pocono
the day of the battle, and thus escaped that carnage.
He was here afterwards and helped to collect the mu-
tilated bodies upon the battle-field. He said " there
were but few of them that we could recognize; the
stench was very offensive: we put them on sledges
with pitchforks and shovels, and hauled them to one
common grave and put them into it." The body of
COLONEL BANSOM. 237
his father they found near Fort Wintermoot, with a
musket shot in the thigh and his head severed from
his shoulders, and his whole hody scarred with gashes.
He says, " I counted twenty-seven mutilated bodies
around Queen Esther's Rock— fjld men and lads of
fifteen." Scattered over the field they lay in a state
of far-advanced decomposition. In all cases the
scalp was removed.
The winter after the battle he obtained a furlough.
He stayed with his mother and family at the old Ply-
mouth homestead, the chief subsistence of them all
being the milk of one cow. The loss of the entire
crop of that season, with the effects of the Indian and
Tory devastations, completely deprived the people of
food and nearly of raiment.
Colonel Ransom was born in Canaan, Litchfield
county, Connecticut, in 1761. This was the same
town in which Franklin was born, and there was ever
a strong intimacy between the two families. His
father was chosen a " Selectman " for Plymouth, at a
town meeting for AVestmoreland, on the second of
March, 1774. He probably came here in 1771 or
1772.
The follomng anecdote, which I have often heard
repeated, I will give in the language of Dr. Peck, as
it is very cleverly related by that gentleman :
" While in one of the old taverns in Wilkes-
Barre" (Amdt's he might have added), "when
quite advanced in years, he heard a windy young man
238 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
speak very disrespectfollT of General Washington.
The General, he said, ^vas not a great man nor a great
soldier, but had taken advantage of fortimate circum-
stances to palm himself off upon the world as such.
This "was more than the old soldier could bear, and he
lifted his cane and felled the impudent young sprig to
the floor. The whipped puppy prosecuted the Colonel
for assault and battery.
" When the cause came on. Colonel Eansom ap-
peared in court without advocate, and simply pleaded
guilty, and flung himself on the mercy of the Com-t.
Hon. David Scott was Presiding Judge, his associates
were the venerable Matthias Hollenback and Jesse
Fell. Judge Scott remarked : ' This is a case which
T choose to leave to my associates, as they are old sol-
diers, and can folly appreciate the circumstances of
the case,' and then left his seat. Judge HoUenback
asked Colonel Eansom 'where he was at such a date T
The answer was, ' in my father's company in Washing-
ton's army.' 'And where on the third of July,
1778.^' Answer. 'With Captain Spalding, on my
way to Wyoming.' ' And where the following sum-
mer T Answer. ' With General Sullivan in the Lake
country flogging the Indians.' 'And where the next
fall and winter.^' Answer. ' A prisoner on the St.
Lawrence !' 'Ah !' said the Judge, 'all that is true
enough, Colonel Eansom. And did you knock the
fellow down. Colonel T 'I did so, and would do it
again imder like provocation,' was the answer. ' What
COLONEL EAXSoiy:. 239
vras the provocation ?' asked the Judge. ' The rascal
abused the name of General Washmo-ton,' was the an-
swer. The Judge cooUy said, ' Colonel Eansom, the
judgment of the Court is that you pay a fine of one
cent, and that the prosecutor pay the costs \' This
sentence was followed by a roar of applause."
My earliest recollection of Colonel Eansom brings
back to my mind a stout built, sq^uare-shouldered man
about five feet eight inches high, light complexion
and blue eyes. I remember when he was the colonel
of a militia regiment, and have been present at his
annual regimental parades. He was then in the
prime of life, probably not over fifty years of age. He
had a pleasant and agreeable manner, very communi-
cative, and was a most obliging neighbor. He was a
man who liked mirth, and nobody enjoyed a joke
better than he. He was quiet and peaceable; a man
of thoroughly domestic habits. He raised a large
family of children and brought them up respectably,
giving them all a good common school education.
I never knew him, dming my long acquaintance,
to have been more than twice in the^ court; one occa-
sion I have aheady noticed, the other was in a civil
suit.
In the last ten years of his life he became feeble,
and would hobble about his premises with a cane in
each hand. His house was always open to hospital-
ity, and no man more thoroughly and keenly rehshed
a convivial assemblage than he. He possessed the
15
240 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
highest sense of honor. His long training in the rev-
ohitionary service made liim very punctilious in his
intercourse. His word was his bond.
He lived to a very advanced age; he died in 1850,
in the full enjoyment of his mental faculties. He was
therefore in his eighty-ninth year. I attended his
funeral. We buried him with military honors at the
cemetery near Boss Hill. And when the smoke of
the musketry over his last resting-place cleared away,
and we moved off in silence from his grave, the re-
flection came home to the heart of one at least I know,
that we had consigned to earth a man of many virtues,
and whose strong arm and resolute will had made
their impression in the frame work and superstructure
of Free and Eepubhcan America.
Daniel McDowal, one of our townspeople, was
carried away by the Indians to Niagara some time in
1^72; but I am imable to ascertain where his resi-
dence was located. A daughter of his married Gene-
ral Samuel McKean, of Bradford county, and at one
time a Senator from this State in Congress. I cannot
say either how long he was held in captivity.
Mr. Miner mentions the capture at the same time
of the arrest of the two Harveys, Kansom, and the
two girls, Louis Harvey and Lucy Bullford, of Na-
than Bullock, Jonathan Frisby, James Frisby, Man-
asah Cady, and George Palmer. I am inclined to
think there is an error in this statement. The name
of Bullock has been confounded with Bullford, and
1;
s'^i««3n»H
.-tw^
COLONEL GEORGE P. R A N S O M -Taken at 85.
SAMUEL RANSOM. 241
that of George Palmer, with George Palmer Piansom.
This, however, would not explain the matter as to the
two Frishys and Cady. But as he fixes the same
date, December sixth, 1780, of the capture of Ran-
som and his party, he is most certainly incorrect.
It is not surprising by any means that this confu-
sion may have occurred in the multiplicity of facts
that Mr. Miner grouped together for the material of
his history.
The only remaining instance of Indian atrocity
committed on our people of which we have knowl-
edge, was that upon Samuel Ransom, brother of
George P. Ransom. The house of his deceased father
was attacked on the tenth of March, 1781, in the
night, the following spring after his brother had been
carried into captivity.
Being aware that the house was surrounded by
Indians, he took his gun and walked out; the moon
shining brightly, the Indians discovered him and fired
upon him, breaking one of his arms. He coolly and
deliberately rested his gun against the house, and
with his remaining arm fired and brought down his
man. This success, accompanied by the discharge of
a gun, at random, within the house, by Jonah Rog-
ers, at the same time, induced the marauding party to
fly, leaving their dead comrade upon the field.
CllAFTKU IX.
T 11 K \Y .\ U F 1 S I - ,
t^i OOX after the conmioiicoiuont of iluMvar of 1812,
k^ lvt^Yoou the Ihiitod t^tatos audO\ioat Rntuin. a
volm\toor company, prinoipally composed of Kiug-stou
men. Avith a few fivm riymouth. under tlio command
of Captain Samuel Thomas. otVered their services to
tlie United States g-overunient and were accepted.
This company, on the thirteenth oi' April, 1S13,
omlwrked on boanl of a boat at Shnpp's Eddy, in the
upper part of riyuio\ith. on their >\i\y to join Gen-
eral Harrison's army on the western frontier. They
numbered thirty-one men. They proceeded to Pau-
ville in their boat, and thence they wei\t overhmd to
Lake Erie. In passing through Bedford coimty, Cap-
tain Thomas procured the addition of thirtv-seven
recruits, and in Eannte twenty-seveu more, thus
makii\g his full comphnneut of ninety-four men.
On their arri\-al at Erie, the company (artillery)
of Captain Thomas was attached to a rennsylvania
regiment under Colonel Reese Hill.
Of this company the following were riymouth
men : Abitiliam Eoberts, John Blaue, Festus Free--
man. James Hevans and AVilliam Face.
The company had not been long at the point of
OVIOJt THK UAR. 243
tlioir (]<!HiIrKitiori IxjCoro Uicy [i;ul occaHlon to iowt ihcjir
counij^o.
Tli(; li;u-(jor o(" l'r(;H,(|ii(; IhIo — now Ijnc, — f;ont!iiri';d
a [);irt of I'crry'H Kqiifulron ufton tiio luk<;, vvfiicli liufl
l;ccri. built ilion;, bill which could not join the roHt of
the flc(;t. A bar (;xt(;n(lcd acroHS tho mouth of tlic
harbor, and tho Jiritinh fleet under Barclay liad no
trouble in a content for the Hiipremacy of th(; lake,
while the fleet of lU-sry wan thuH divided. Perry
made a deHporato effort to reach tho harbor in order
to form a union of IiIh fleet. Ho accornpliHlied it;
})iit in this lie wa.s rnat(;rially aided by the cannonade
from the Hhore of (Jaj)tain ThoinaH' battery; and aH
thoHO BhotB were annwered from tlio Britinh nquadron,
a lively cannonade waH kept up for Home time, and
for tlje eooln(.'KH and eoiira^*; of (Jaj>tain Thoman' men,
they received enpecial commendation.
In consequence of tho bar, however, Terry could
not get his heavy nhipH out, and dared not meet the
enemy wilJiout the.m. To hin great relief, however,
Barclay moved to the Canada Hhore, not Hupponing
that his adversary was ready to go to nea.
Perry immediately taking advantage of the ab-
sejice, paHHefl his flag-ship, the Lawrence, and the
Niagara, his largest vessels, over the bar with light-
ers, the schooners following; and within twenty-fVjiir
hours after the departure of Barclay, ho had his ships
ready for action. He lacked, however, his comple-
ment of men.
244 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
And here comes in tlie Plymouth, feature of the
great battle of the Lakes, small, comparatively, it is
true, but nevertheless so important as to be stamped
upon medals of silver to be held in perpetual
memory.
The tenth of September was approaching, when
the gallant young officer of but twenty-seven years
was to measure swords with the mistress of the seas.
The crews of his new ships were to be replenished.
Time was short, and the slow progress of enlistment
in the ordinary way would not meet the emergency.
He sent an invitation ashore for volunteers to fully
man his quarter-decks. The proportion which fell to
Captain Thomas' company was four. He ordered out
his company, read the request, and desired four men
to volunteer by stepping four paces to the front.
William Pace, Benjamin Hall, Grodfrey Bowman,
and James Bird advanced to the line of honor. They
were immediately placed on board the Niagara. A
thousand cheers for old Shawnee and Kingston.
Kevolutionary sprouts ; they bore high aloft the fame
of their ancestors. The blood of the Ransoms, the
Hd,rveys, the Graylords, or the Bidlacks had not sod-
dened the Wyoming battle-field in vain. The shore
of Lake Erie was about to chronicle new feats of valor
of men of the same soil, after the lapse of a third of
a century.
On the morning of the tenth of September, the
British fleet of sixty-three guns weighed anchor in
THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 245
the port of Maiden. Perry, with his fleet of fifty-
four guns, was waiting to meet it. He hoisted the
flag upon his own vessel, on which were inscribed the
last words of Commodore Lawrence : " Don't give
UP the Ship." This was the signal for action^ and
cheer upon cheer rolled down the line.
When within a mile and a half of the enemy's
}ine, the blast of a bugle came ringing over the water,
the signal of battle. This was followed by a single
gun, whose shot went bounding by the Lawrence, and
then followed the discharge of the long guns of the
whole British squadron. Perry was unable to use his
carronades, and was thus exposed for a half hour be-
fore he could bring his guns within range.
" Steering straight for the Detroit, a vessel a fourth
larger than his own, he gave orders for the schooners
that lagged behind to close up within half cables'
length. Those orders, the last he gave during the
battle, were passed by trumpet from vessel to vessel;
the light wind having nearly died away, the Lawrence
suffered severely before she could get near enough to
open with her carronades, and she had scarcely taken
her position before the fire of three vessels were di-
rected upon her. Enveloped in flames and smoke,
Perry strove desperately to maintain his ground till
the rest of the fleet could close, and for two hours
sustained, without flinching, this unequal contest.
The balls crashed incessantly through the sides of the
ship, disrnounting the guns ai|d strewing the deck
246 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF TLYMOUTH.
with the dead, until at length, with every trace and
bowline shot away, she lay an unmanageable wreck on
the waters. But still through the smoke, as it went
before the heavy broadsides, her colors were seen fly-
ing, and still gleamed forth in the sunlio-ht that o-lo-
rious motto : ' Don't give up the Ship ! ' Calm and
unmoved at the slaughter around and his own des-
perate situation, Perry gave his orders tranquilly as
though executing a manoeuvre." — (Headley.)
After every gun had been dismounted, and out of
the one hundred men who entered the action with him
but eighteen stood before him un wounded, when peer-
ing through the smoke, he saw the Niagara, ap2:)ar-
ently uncrippled, drifting out of the battle. Leaping
into a boat, he exclaimed: " If a \dctory is to be gained,
I will gain it!" and amidst a perfect storm of shot and
shell he boarded the Niagara, faced her about, and
flung out his signal for close action. He immediately
bore down upon the enemy's centre, reserving his fire
till in the midst of the enemy's fleet; with the Detroit
and Lady Provost within pistol shot on the right and
left, he opened his broadside. Headley says, that " the
shrieks that wrung out from the Detroit were heard
even above the cannonade; while the crew of the Lady
Provost, unable to stand the fire, ran below, leaving
their wounded, stunned and bewildered commander
alone on deck, leaning his face on his hand, and gazing
vacantly on the passing ship."
An action conducted in tliis manner could not last
THE BATTLE OF LAKE EEIE. 247
long," and within fifteen minutes after the desperate
charge, the British flag struck — the proud and haugh-
ty " Mistress of the Seas " had met more than her
equal; and so Perry notched it down upon the tablets
of history, before the smoke had cleared away, or
the last echo of his guns rebounded from the shore :
" We have met the enemy, and they are ours."
One of the most brilliant naval engagements of
the world, and the victory at the time was almost de-
cisive of the war. Three hundred men were killed
and wounded upon both sides.
Our townsman, William Pace, has very fre-
quently given me an account of the engagement, and
as he would dilate upon the conduct of Perry and the
terrible charge of the Niagara upon the two vessels,
the little man's frame would shake with emotion. He
assisted to raise Perry from his boat to the deck of
the Niagara. He was also upon the Lawrence imme-
diately after the action, and saw the fifty men, whose
bodies were mangled, still lying there, the blood and
gore covering the entire surface of the deck.
The Legislature granted those who volunteered for
the naval action and citizens of this State, silver
medals. He brought me his in 1847, with the view of
obtaining for him a pension. It is a circular plate,
probably four inches in diameter, and the eighth of an
inch in thickness. On one side is the raised profile
likeness of the American commander, with the in-
scription: "Presented by the Government of Penn-
248 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
sylvania. Oliver Hazard Perry; Pro patria vicit."
Upon the otlier side : " To William Pace, in testi-
mony of his patriotism and bravery, in the Naval en-
gagement on Lake Erie, September Tenth, 1813."
He was a short, thick-set little man, probably five
feet four inches in height, with a pleasant smile gen-
erally on his face. He remarked, " that so long as he
had been able to support himself he would not accept
a, pension from his State; but now, as he was getting
old, he thought the State ought to assist him." And
60 I thought, and I sent the medal to General Eoss,
who was then our representative in the Senate of
Pennsylvania, who procured the passage of a law on
the fifteenth of March, 1847, granting him a pen-
sion.
Pace lived in the back part of Plymouth, known
as Blindtown, at the time of his enlistment, and died
but a few years since an humble and unpretending
man; upright in his conduct, and held in the esteem
and good opinion of all his neighbors.
Our company was in several engagements before
they were discharged. At the battle of the Thames
the company behaved well under the command of
Lieutenant Ziba Hoyt, who by the way was a most
excellent and worthy citizen. Captain Thomas, being
detained at Detroit with a part of the company and
the field-guns, for its defense, the rest of the company,
under Lieutenant Hoji:, followed the fleeing enemy to
the Thames.
LETTER FROM CAPTAIN THOMAS. 249
They were honorably discharged after the expira-
tion of the term for which they enlisted.
During the time I was engaged in preparing these
sketches for publication, I received the following very
interesting letter from Captain Thomas, now a resi-
dent of Wyoming, State of Illinois, and in good
health at the age of eighty-five years. I insert the
letter, as it will be not only a reminder of an old and
valued acquaintance to the citizens of this county
who knew him, and where he spent the greater part
of his life, but also testimony of some of the facts
about which I write.
" WTOMme, Illinois, Nov. 23, 1871.
'' Colonel H. B. Wright:
" Dear Sm. — Mr. Charles Myers (formerly from Wilkes-Barre)
brought to my notice a statement under your name, in the Luzerne
Union of the first of this month, giving a short sketch of the com-
pany that marched under my command to Lake Erie in the
year 1813.
" In reading your remarks it brought vividly to my mind all
the circumstances of the part I had in that campaign, although
fifty-eight years have passed, and the years of my age will be
eighty-five on the second of February next. "While you have given
a more favorable as -well as acctirate account of the behavior of the
company while in the service of our country than has been written
or published, yet I see that you are in fault in some particulars.
"•One instance I mention : you state * that the company march-
ed with the army to the river Thames under the command of Lieu-
tenant Hoyt.' This requires explanation. The fact is, that when
we crossed the Lake and marched up opposite to the city of De-
troit, the hostile Indians appeared in strong force on the bank of
the river in a warlike and threatening attitude. I was ordered to
cross the river with my company and drive the Indians from the
250 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
city, and to remain there and guard tlie place while the main army
followed in the pursuit of the retreating enemy. This service waa
faithfully performed, although the Indians tried to prevent our
landing, firing at us with their rifles ; but when we opened upon
them with our field-guns, they scattered like a flock of sheep.
While we were guarding the city we had several alarms, but the
Indians finding us always in readiness to meet them, never ven-
tured to come within reach of our guns.
" I would like to relate many incidents that I recollect con-
nected with this service, but I have been wholly out of the prac-
tice of writing many years ; still, I must mention one circumstance.
"We went down the Susquehanna on a board raft that Elihu Par-
rish was taking to market. "We ran into Shupp's Eddy, and landed,
for the purpose of taking in some men in that vicinity who were
members of my company. Among them was a man by the name
of Moyer. All of them had got aboard of the raft but him, and we
were impatient to get off. He did not come, and I went to his
home near by to hurry him on. I opened the door and entered,
when a scene presented ibself that requires one of better descrip-
tive powers than I have to describe. Moyer stood there in his uni-
form, and apparently ready to march. His wife and a number of
children surrounding him, crying bitterly, and as though their
hearts would break at the parting — they literally held him so fast
that he could not move.
*' James Bird, whose sad fate has been commemorated in song,
was standing by, and seeing the family in such distress, it touched
his generous sympathies, said to Moyer, ' Give me youk TINI-
FORM COAT AND I WILL GO IN YOUK PLACE.' Moyer was SO Over-
powered by the generous and noble act that he could not say a
word, but silently took off his coat and gave it to Bird ; when we
immediately went upon the raft and proceeded at once on our
journey to Lake Erie. Very respectfully yours,
"Samuel Thomas." ■
Tlie correction of General Thomas is not very ma-
terial. The point of discrepancy is, whether the
JAMES BIRD. 251
whole of his company passed over the river to De-
troit, or a part of it only. The tradition of the affair
is that Lieutenant Hoyt, with a part of the compaDy,
left Captain Thomas at this place and proceeded on
with the army to the Thames, and participated in the
battle there.
The noble conduct of poor Bird, in taking the
military coat of Moyer and joining the company as a
substitute, cost him his life, and that too under a
state of facts that shocks the mind. It is true he was
convicted of desertion, but it was not desertion
through cowardice or a desire to shun the service of
his country. It is, indeed, passing strange, how the
man should have been convicted, or what the oflScer
meant, in command, who could affirm such a finding.
Bird was a patriot and a man of unquestioned
courage. He had voluntarily left the ranks of his
company and went on board the Niagara at the mo-
ment, when every one knew that a desperate action
was about to be fought.
And when severely wounded, was ordered to " leave
the deck" by Perry —
" No," cried Bird, " I will not go,
Here on deck I took my station :
Ne'er -will Bird his colors fly;
I'll stand by you, gallant Captain,
Till we conquer or we die ! "
This was the language of a man who a few days
afterwards was condemned for desertion by a " drum-
252 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
head " court-martial and shot down like a dog ! And
what was the charge ? Certainly not an offense that
corresponded with the awful character of the penalty
inflicted. Was it cowardice ? No. Was it a desire
to flee the service ? No. It was charged upon him
that he had deserted the ranks, but it was after the
battle was fought and the victory won — a victory too
that was sealed by his blood.
I well remember, though then but a lad of six
years of age, that the report of the execution of this
man sent a thrill through this valley. G-rief pervaded
the entire population. He was a great favorite with
the people, and the sensation produced by his death
was as sincere as it was intense. The people of the
valley could not believe the rumor; and when the facts
of the case became known, it only added fuel to the
burning fire of excitement.
He was promoted on the Niagara for deeds of
courage. Shortly after the naval engagement on the
lake, and in which he had exhibited so much courage,
he learned of the intended attack by the British on
New Orleans; that the South were arming for resist-
ance, and he made up his mind to be with them. In
company with some of his men, he left without orders;
he was overtaken at Pittsburg, where he had made ar-
rangements with a few bold and congenial spirits to
join him, and enter Jackson's army.
Tried by a court-martial, he was condemned for
desertion, and shot to death, kneehng upon his coffin !
JAMES BIED. 253
The poor fellow's prayer to be allowed time to lay
his case before Perry was denied him, and his execu-
tion immediately followed the unrighteous sentence.
It makes one's heart sick at such savage and inex-
cusable conduct. Such a penalty for such an offense!
It might have suited an age of barbarism, but is not
to be tolerated in this.
It was the untimely death, and the inexcusable
circumstances which surrounded it, that inspired the
muse of Hon. Charles Miner, from whom we have al-
ready quoted, in the production of that commemora-
tive, and, at the time, most popular ballad, commenc-
ing :
" Sons of Freedom, listen to me."
Deeds are sometimes done under the sanction of
law that shock our senses, and make us feel the utter
imbecility and total want of qualifications in human
jurisprudence. A more glaring case in proof of this
cannot be cited than in the conviction and execution
of James Bird!
More than fifty years have passed by since the
tragedy; but these same fifty years have not erased
from my memory the deep and lasting impression the
sad event indelibly stamped upon my mind. I am
but one of the multitude that shared this feeling at
the time, yet all of those who are now gone, as well
as those who survive, never changed their opinion of
the cruelty of this judicial murder.
Upon the attack upon Baltimore by the British, in
254 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
1814, a requisition was made upon our northern coun-
ties for a draft. Five companies were raised in pursu-
ance of tliis order. The Plymouth men were in Cap-
tain Peter Halleck's company. Those who were
drafted from Plymouth were: Adjutant of the regi-
ment, Noah Wadhams; Second Lieutenant, Jeremiah
Fuller; Third Sergeant, Joseph Wright; First Corpo-
ral, Ezralde; Privates, George D. Nash, Thomas
Lynn, John Hunter, Anson Car Skadden, Aaron Van
Loon, Wm. Blane, Philip Group, Luke Blane, Samuel
Harvey and Aaron Closson.
The company of Captain Halleck marched to
Danville, and was there attached to a regiment under
the command of Colonel James Montgomery. But
before full arrangements were made at Danville, the
northern rendezvous, in making the necessary organi-
zation for a march, news came of the gallant defense
of Fort McHenry and the expulsion of the British
from the Chesapeake; and the regiment was dis-
charged, the men of the northern companies returning
to their homes.
Among the papers of my father, I find one of
which the following is a copy. It seems that he was
not only a member of Captain Halleck's company,
but also an ojicer. 1 give the paper as a relic of the
past.
"Joseph Wright, Third Sergeant:
" Take notice, that you are hereby required personally or by suf-
ficient substitute to appear at the house of Jonathan Hancock, ia
TOWN MEETINGS. 255
the Borough of Wilkes-Barre, properly armed and equipped for
service at the hour of ten o'clock A. M. on the ninth day of Novem-
ber next, to march "when required. Appeals to be heard at tho house
of Jonathan Hancock, on the ninth day of November next.
" Given under my hand, the twenty-eighth day of October, A.
D. 1814.
" Stephen Van Loon, Captain." ,
It appears, as I find by a memorandum in a small
diary of his made on the fourteenth, that " on this day
I eat my first rations of bread and beef furnished by
the United States."
In years after I procured his land warrant, as also
for most of the others, who were at, as they termed it,
" the Siege of Danville ! "
As to the part our people took in the war with
Mexico and the late rebellion, I leave it to be re-
corded by some other pen.
CHAPTER X.
TOWN MEETINGS. — EARLY SYSTEM OF LAWS. FIRST
TOWN OFFICERS.
rriHE "town-meeting" of our ancestors was an
-1- important affair, and so it was within my own
recollection in Plymouth.
In the early days of the valley, the town meeting
of Westmoreland assembled the "Freemen" of all
that territory between the Delaware river east and the
16
256 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
present Sullivan county line west, and from the Le-
liigh soutli to Tioga point north, embracing more than
seventy miles square.
Within this tovm of Westmoreland, Plymouth
had been early designated and named one of the first
five, as already stated, and set ofi" by the Susquehanna
company in 1768. Other townships from time to time
were set off and designated as districts. Plymouth was
known outside of the public records as Shawnee —
Shawanee or Shawney — Franklin's journal spells it
Shawney; the Indian name being provincialized from
cJi'uanois, which is a very pretty appellation.
The town of Westmoreland was governed by a
digest of laws, or more properly called rules and reg-
ulations. These were prepared by the Susquehanna
company, at Hartford, Connecticut, on the second of
June, 1773, with the acquiescence of the settlers.
The principal authority under these rules, as to
the township or district municipal government, was
vested in a board of directory, " to be composed of
three able and judicious men among such settlers."
These were to be elected annually on the first Mon-
day in December; and their duties were, "to take
upon them the direction of the settlement of each
town, under the company, and the well-ordering and
the governing the same; to suppress vice of every kind;
preserve the peace of God and the King therein; to
whom each inhabitant shall pay such, and the same,
submission, as is paid to the civil authority in the
directors' meetings. 257
several towns of this colony." The rules provided for
the election of a constable, "to be vested with the
same power and authority as a constable by laws of
this colony is, for preserving the peace and apprehend-
ing offenders of a criminal or civil nature."
These directors of each town were required to
meet " on the first Monday of each month, and oftener
if need be, with their peace officers, as well to consult
for the good regulation thereof, as to hear and decide
any differences that may arise, and inflict proper fine
or other punishment on offenders, according to the
general laws and rules of this colony, so far as the
peculiar situation and circumstances of such town and
plantation will admit of ; and as the reformation of
offenders is the principal object in view, always pre-
ferring serious admonition and advice to them, and
their making public satisfaction by public acknowl-
edgment of their fault, and doing such public service
to the plantation as the directors shall judge meet;
to fines in money or corporal punishment, which how-
ever, in extreme cases, such directors shall inflict as
said laws direct."
The directors of all the towns were required to
meet quarterly " to confer with each other on the
state of each particular town, and to come into such
resolutions concerning them as they shall find for
their best good; as also to hear the complaints of any
that shall judge themselves aggrieved by the decisions
of their directors in their several towns, who shall
258 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
have tlie right to appeal to such quarterly meet-
ing/'
The rules further provide, " that no one convicted
of sudden and violent breach of the peace, of swear-
ing, drunkenness, stealing, fraud, idleness and the
like, shall have the liberty of appeal without first
procuring good security for his orderly and sober be-
havior," etc., and in civil proceedings an appeal was
confined to matters in controversy exceeding twenty
shillings.
In this way petty matters were to be disposed of ;
but when it came " to the high-handed crimes of
adultery, burglary and the like, the convict shall be
sentenced to banishment from the settlement and a
confiscation of all their personal effects therein to the
use of the town where such offense is committed; and
should there still be the more heinous crime of mur-
der committed, which Grod forbid, the offender shall
be instantly arrested and delivered into the hands of
the nearest civil authority in Connecticut," etc., etc.
No appeal lay " from the doings of such quarterly
meeting, or their decrees to the Susquehanna company,
save in disputes as to land,"
And thus we find the character of the tribunal
and the mode of administering justice in Plymouth
ninety-eight years ago.
As the frame of law was adopted and promulgated
by the Susquehanna company in June, 1773, and the
time named for the election of directors in December
APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTORS. 259
in eacli year, a general town meeting is warned, i. e.,
of the whole territory of Westmoreland, which on as-
sembling appointed three directors to act till the fol-
lowing December, in the towns of Wilkes-Barre, Ply-
mouth, Providence, Kingston, Pittston and Hanover.
The appointments for Plymouth were Phineas
Nash, Captain David Marvin and J. Glaylord. These
gentlemen, therefore, we may consider as the first ju-
dicial ofiicers who ever sat in judgment upon the Ply-
mouth bench. But only reflect, if these three civil
magistrates were alive to-day, and in commission,
what labor would devolve upon them in disposing of
all the cases of "breaches of the peace, swearing,
drunkenness, gaming and idleness." Would they
have many spare hours out of the twenty-four, that
is, if they faithfully discharged their duties ?
And this is a question we have no right to ask, as
all officers in those days discharged their official du-
ties personally. Those were days when there was no
pay and competent men held office, and their charac-
ter was at stake to do the duty faithfully. Is such
the case now ? This is a question we have a right
to ask.
But as I am writing history, I must confine myself
to the past, and let some one who shall follow me
comment upon the present ! Each district was thus
empowered on the December following the general
town meeting, to elect its three directors, composing a
municipal court, and its constable; the appointing
260 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
power for all other officers was vested in the general
town meeting, and so remained up to the time when
Westmoreland was set off into a county.
At a town meeting held on the first of March,
1774, the districts were established and all the officers
appointed. I copy from the journal the following :
" Maech y*^ 2d, 1774.
" Voted, That y® town of Westmoreland be di-
vided in the following manner into districts, that is to
say, that y® town of Wilkes-Barre ' be one entire dis-
trict, and known by the name of Wilkes-Barre dis-
trict; ' and that Plymouth, with all y^ land west of
Susquehanna river, south and west to the town line,
be one dibtrict, by the name of Plymouth district."
And at the same time defining the limits of Kings-
ton, Pittston^ Hanover, Exeter, Providence; also mak-
ing Lackaway^ Blooming Grove, Shehola and Coshu-
tunk districts on the Delaware.
After defining the boundaries of each, the meeting
proceeds to appointing officers. I shall only name
those appointed for Plymouth. Seven selectmen
were chosen, one of them was Samuel Kansom ; seven
collectors of rates, one of them, Asaph Whittlesey;
twenty-two surveyors of highways, three of them,
Elisha Swift, Samuel Eansom and Benjamin Harvey;
fourteen fence viewers, two of them, John Baker and
Charles Graylord; fifteen listers, i. e., persons to make
enrolments, two of them, Elisha Swift and Gideon
THE TOWN SIGN-POST. 261
Baldwin; twelve grand jurors, two of them, Phineas
Nash and Thomas Heath; seven ty thing men, one of
them, Timothy Hopkins; eight key keepers, one of
them, Thomas Heath.
And so the civil list was filled up. The represen-
tatives to the Connecticut Assembly were chosen
semi-annuaUy — they had probably been chosen at a
former meeting. Two hundred and six persons took
the freemen's oath at this meeting, which shows that
there were not a dozen absentees of the whole male
voting population of the town of Westmoreland at
the time this meeting assembled.
It was " voted at this meeting that for y^ present,
y^ tree that now stands northerly from Captain But-
ler's house, shall be y^ Town Sign-Post."
The year following, a strife grew up between the
people on the two sides of the river, the Plymouth
and Kingston people demanding that the Sign Post
should be on the west side of the river, and accord-
ingly they met to take a vote. The west side carried
it by a small majority, and designated a certain tree
in Kingston, " ten rods north of the house of Mr.
Koss, the Public Sign-Post." The proceedings of the
few succeeding meetings, and important ones too, for
there were chosen at them representatives to the Gen-
eral Assembly of Connecticut, do not state at which
Public Sign -Post they were held. Bad blood grew
out of this strife. A compromise was finally made,
and at a general town meeting it was
c;»
262 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF rLYMOUTH.
" Voted, That for tlie future tlie aunnal to-svn
meetings aud Freenieu's meetings shall be held half
the time on the east side of the river, and the other
half on the west side of the river, for one year."
In this vote they had a precedent, for the home
government of Connecticut had settled a like diffi-
culty between Xew Haven and Hartford, in designat-
ing each of these towns as the alternate places of the
meeting of the Legislature.
The Public Sign-Post in these davs meant some-
thing; it was the public hall for conducting the pub-
lie business and holding elections; the place for post-
ing notices, for newspapers had not yet made their
appearance there; the public whipping-post for pun-
ishment of petty offenses, and it may be well doubt-
ed whether our reform in this particular has bene-
fited the public morals; it was the central place
of business transactions, the exchange, the auction
mart, the forum, the hustings, the recruiting depot,
and the general centre of all public afiairs.
It don't precisely conform to our modem ideas of
things, but nevertheless did very well ninety-eight
yeai"s ago. There is one thing about which there
cannot be much question, and that is, that at these
Public Sign-Posts th.ey elected better men to office
than now; and that if some of the men who now hold
places, had lived in the days of Sign-Post elections,
and used the effrontery and despicable practices they
now do to procure them, they would have been tied
SELLING THE TOWN POOR. 263
up to these same Sign-Posts and enlightened with the
cat-o'nine-tails.
Those were the blessed days when the office sought
the man, and it was sustained in its dignity by his
acceptance; not as is the case now, frequently, when
the office gives the incumbent the only claim he has
to notice.
These annual town meetings furnished the occa-
sion for not only a general assemblage of the voting
population, but of the young men also. It was a day
of jubilee and amusement. The young men would
engage in feats of physical strength — wrestling,
throwing the bar, playing ball, foot races, and like
amusements.
In later years I can well remember myself, that
the annual town meeting day in Plymouth was a day
of amusement as well as of business. This was held,
if I remember, on the third Friday in March, at which
time the township officers were elected. All turned
out, old and young, and made it a general jubilee.
The practice, I suppose, came down from the prece-
dents of the town meetings of old Westmoreland.
But there was one thing always done at these
annual meetings which did not very much redound
to the credit or humanity of our early settlers ;
that was the selling of the town poor to the lowest
bidder, to be boarded for the year. Along from
1812 to 1820, Jerre Allen, a deranged man, would
be brought to the place of holding the town meet-
264 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
iiig, iu cliains, and thus put up for sale. Speedy
Nash, a poor, simple, foolish creature, also. The
bidding on the paupers, for the year's keep, would
generally begin at a hundred dollars and go down to
fifty or forty-five, and would be generally struck ofi:'
to some mountaineer, living in a log hut, and the town
contribution would sustain pauper and purchaser.
The practice was not local; it reached throughout the
State. Finally, however. Judge Burnside caused the
overseers of the poor of some district to be indicted
in his court, and the penalty he imposed on this
ofiense of inhumanity, put a final stop to the selling
of the township poor annually, at auction, to the
lowest bidder.
The town meeting, however, is one of the institu-
tions of the past. The last twenty-five or thirty
years have changed its features to such an extent,
that one of our old settlers, were he to return, would
not recognize it any better than he could divine the
meaning of a telegraph wire or a locomotive !
In a careful re^aew of the system of laws applica-
ble to Plymouth a hundred years ago, we can hardly
say that there has been much improvement for the
better. That they were better administered I think
there cannot be a doubt. If drunkenness, and gaming
and idleness were upon our calendar of this day, and
made the subjects of punishment, there cannot be a
question but the moral tone of the community would
occupy a higher standard.
THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE. 265
We cannot therefore say that we are ahead of our
plain and unpretending ancestors in this particular.
Idleness, perhaps, should not be classed as a crime,
and yet the example it furnishes to those who cannot
afford to be idle, is of the most pernicious character.
I have not been able to ascertain, after diligent
inquiry, where our first Triumvirate held their
court. Phineas Nash, Captain David Marvin, and
J. Gay lord, clothed as they were with the municipal
power of Plymouth, must have had a court, and un-
doubtedly a whipping-post and stocks ; but the lo-
cality o these things deemed necessary in a past age,
has become somewhat obscure. These men and their
successors were to Plymouth what the three triumvirs
were to Eome after the fall of Caesar, or the three
Consu s to France who preceded the first Empire.
Holding therefore the commissions of the peace, and
the balances of justice for old Plymouth, it is to be
regretted that not only the records of their court but
the place of administration are gone.
Nor can we find any record of the acts of their
successors, or even the names of them. The floods
and the ravages of the common enemy have left but
little to enlighten us.
A friend has furnished me with a very venerable
looking paper, but well written, and in a hand too
which I recognize as that of my old schoolmaster, of
which the following is a copy:
" At a meeting of the proprietors of the common-
266 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH. '
field in Sliawney, legally -warned, and held on the
twenty-fonith of March, ITS 6,
" Voted, That John Franklin, Esq., be moderator
for said meeting.
" Voted, That all such houses as are within the
limits of this commonfield, and occupied with tamilies,
"be remoyed out of said field by the tenth of April next;
the committy to giye speedy warning to any such
residents and see it is put in execution. The house
now occupied by the widow Heath excepted, provided
the said widow Heath shall run a fence so as to leave
her house without said field.
'' [A true copy].
" Attest: Jonah Eggeks, Clark."
It is probable that this commonfield, as it is
called, may have had something to do with the place
of the administration of justice. One or two of the
oldest people, now resident in Plymouth, have a per-
fect recollection that the general parade-ground was
on the brow of Ant Hill. The fences in those days
had not so far encroached upon the common. This
was the commonfield refen-ed to in the memorandum
of the meeting, for Mrs. Heath's house, afterwards
Mrs. Morse, still stands near the elm tree; and here
was a common place of assembling within my own
recollection; and it is more than probable that the
elm tree still standino; there was the Public Si2;n-
Post of the town. My own recollections do not go
fm-ther back than fifty-five years; and while I remem-
THK OLD ELM, OR WHIPPING POST.
THE rUBLIO SIGN-POST. 267
ber well the tree standing there fifty years since, of
large size then, I do not remember the tradition of its
being the Public Sign-Post of the town. The sign
post, commonficld,and house of justice, were probably
all on this parade-ground.
In those days there was a public school-house on
the opposite side of the road, a few rods below the
locality of the elm. Here I first went to school, to
John Jiennet, Esq., late of Kingston. The benches
and desks were removed from that to the academy,
and the old house was torn down about 1815..
I have but little doubt, therefore, but the old
school-house upon Ant Hill was in early days the fo-
rum of justice, and the old elm, the Public Sign and
whipping-post of Plymouth, ninety-eight years ago.
Will you spare it ? It stands there now, erect,
green and vigorous; a glorious old landmark of the
early days of Plymouth, and it is to be hoped that it
may be permitted to remain. The eyes of our ances-
tors rested upon it in days agone. To me it is a
pleasant reminder of the plain and primitive days of
the town.
CHAFTEE XI.
OCCUPATIONS ANP HABITS OF THE FEOrLE IN EARLY
PAYS. INPUSTKY. — ECONOMY. — CHVKCn.
SCHOOL-TEACHEES. KOCERS, PATTERSON, CVR-
TTS. SAVF.F.T AND OTHEJRS.
I COME now to that time in onr history when I
write chiefly from my own knowledge and per-
sonal obse^^'atiou. I have i-eached the point where it
w^is my original design to have begnn.
Starting ont in company with onr people, in 176S,
from Litchtield, Connecticut, we found a tril^ of red
men in the possession of old Shawnee. This led to
the inquiry who they were, where they came from,
and what finally became of them. Disposing of this,
it was very natural to ascertain if thei-e had been any
white people there ahead of us. Before I had fairly
got through the mazes in which these inquiries in-
volved the thread of my story. I found myself in the
midst of the Pennamite and Yankee war, and then
in the Revolutionary struggle. And while pui-suing
the i-ed line of battle, I at last foimd myself on board
the Niagara, alongside of our giillaut and brave old
friend, "Billy Pace," charging imder the command
of yoimg Perry, the British fleet on Lake Erie.
And into all these ditferent positions I found my-
(•26S)
HAB/TH or TJiK PEOPLE. 269
self compelled to go because the j^eople were ttiere of
whom I was writing.
And this muBt be my apology, if an apology is
necessary. My readers may well conclude that I Piave
given them a long introductory chapter. But those
of them who are the descendants of Plymouth men
must blame their ancestors and not me. Bo long as
they were fighting men, if we speak of them, at all,
we must speak of them in the battle as well as on the
fann, or in other occupations.
We have seen how they behaved themselves
throughout the most trying and disheartening difficul-
ties that it was ever the destiny of men to encounter.
War at their own thresholds; war throughout the
land ; murder, captivity and torture : these made up
the yearly calendar.
Tlieir valor and courage at Millstone elicited the
especial notice and public commendation of Washing-
ton. Butler put Whittlesey and his Plymouth men
at the post of honor, as well as danger, at the battle
of Wyoming. The officers of this company fell in
the front ranks; the rank and file were literally over-
powered and cut to pieces by a vastly superior force.
At Lake Erie, the conduct of a private in the ranks
is singled out as the object of especial notice by the
Government, and the deeds of his bravery recorded
upon a plate of silver.
Wherever the exigency of the exciting times call-
ed them, there they were, and they maintained their
270 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
honor. It is a pleasant tiling indeed to be able in af-
ter years to record such, facts. They showed them-
selves men of high tone and remarkable valor ; great
self-reliance, and unflinching patriotism. These traits
of character were alike exhibited upon the field of
battle, as well as in Indian captivity.
We are, therefore, by no means afraid to lift up
the veil and disclose them to the world in their pri-
vate employments and domestic relations.
The war of the revolution had taught the lesson
of personal as well as national independence; captivity
the lesson of submission, as well as the important fea-
ture of self-reUance; and the final result of the long
and bitter conflict as to the question of the title to
their lands, that a just cause should never be aban-
doned.
When universal peace therefore dawned, and do-
mestic strifes were healed at their own homes and
firesides, those of them who had survived the crash
of war, and could breathe in repose, free from the re-
straints of fear, were in a condition, if any people ever
were, to enjoy the luxuries of a plain, simple and un-
obtrusive life. The sons of those who had fallen in
the public service, or in defense of their own private
rights, knew well the cost of the soil they uiherited
and therefore how to appreciate it.
When, therefore, peace reigned and titles were con-
firmed, they immediately set themselves down with
no other view than to live by their labor. This they
HOME PRODUCTS. 271
were not only willing to do, but it was to them a
source of perfect happiness. The musket and the
sickle did not now require partnership. The field
could be planted with the expectation of gathering
the crop it produced.
The occupation of the people of the town fifty
years since was agriculture. A retail store, a couple
of blacksmith shops, a wheelright shop, and a carpen-
ter's shop, were about the only exceptions. The coal
business was then in its swathing bands. It may
have been used in a dozen houses, partially, but upon
the big kitchen hearth blazed the wood fire.
The people had but little to do with the store.
They lived upon what they produced by their own
labor from the earth. The food they eat and the
clothing they wore, they produced with their own
hands — a little tea, some spices, salt and molasses were
the chief articles of their purchases. The best of them
drank rye coffee, unless upon some holiday or other
extraordinary occasion. They dressed in homespun.
I do not think that I wore an article of clothing till I
was sixteen years old, that did not come out of my
mother's loom ; and I suppose that my father's means
were as ample as a majority of the people. A shirt
made of homespun linen was a little scratchy at first,
but after being washed a few times it sat very easy.
In its new state it kept the pores open, and that was
beneficial to health.
In these times there was not much inducement for
17
07-7
niSTORICAL SKETCHES OF rLYMOUTH.
mercliaiidising. Even the artielo of tobacco was a
home product. I presume that the Plymouth mer-
chant of those daj-s considered that he had done a
good business for the year, if his sales reached two
thousand dollars.
Most of the early settlers owned a lot on the flats.
Here was the broad field of their labor; and daily
labor in those primitive days began at sunrise and
ended with the approaching stars. One common
highway led to the liats. Upon tliis i\>ad could be
seen almost the entire male population of the town
wending their daily way, at early dawn, during the
season of planting and harvest, to the productive tields
of the broad plain. Old and young made up this
line. The summer school was for small children not
yet of sufficient age for the requirements of the field.
There was a common equality between master and
man. They were clad alike; they ate the frugal but
substantial meal from the same board. To save time,
they carried with them their noon meal, so that on
leaving home in the morning they made provision
for the whole day, and did not return till evening.
And so along the main thoroughfare and through
" the old swing gate," passed and repassed for the six
daj-s of the Aveek of the summer, a long line of in-
dustrious and contented people, x^ll labored. There
were no drones in the busy hive. No man was above
work. Labor was respectable: labor was inviting;
and more than all that, labor wiis the true and genu-
INDUSTRY AND ECONOMY. 273
ine test of Rocial position in those good old primitive
days in Plymoutl) — Uod IjIcss them. A hard hand
was the ind(}x of manhood; and if the countenance
did happen to bo a little burned in the rays of the
sun, it detracted nothing from the social status of the
person. The homespun garment did not derogate
from the character of the man who wore it.
In harvest time the minister, the schoolmaster,
the blacksmith, the wheelwright and the carjjenter
lent a hand, and all went " merry as a marriage bell."
No one in these days, in our town, lived upon the
perquisites or the spoils of office. The seeds of cor-
ruption had not been sown even, and there was of
course no crop. One idea of obtaining a livelihood
only prevailed. The door opened to this the path of
honest and simple toil, and this was the one they all
pursued. The primitive door of the Plymouth home-
stead a half century ago needed no locks, no bolts.
These are the precautions of a higher state of civili-
zation ! The days of simplicity and integrity and
honesty required no defensive walls for the protection
of the humble castle. A lock upon the door ! It
would have implied that thieves and robbers were
about; that some one of the community was under
the ban of suspicion.
All being occupied, there was little time either to
think of, much less to commit crime. Noah Wad-
hams, for a great number of years the sole justice of
the peace of the town, held his coujrt on Saturday
274 HISTOIUCAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
afternoons to hear nny cases thatweve to be tried; Imt
a half day's Avork had to he done in the field hefore
the parties litigant eonld he heard. And at these
trials there were no persons present save the parties
and their witnesses. There were no idle lonngers
thronging the tribnnal to gratify their curiosity or
waiting their chances, if need he, on either side for
witnesses. This is a commodity more in demand, I
an\ told, in modern days; and the article is cheap.
The dwellings were very generally on the main
road; a few of which are still standing: the barns
were on the opposite side. The honutiful harvest
was stowed away in these, and when the winter set
in, the sound of the tlail resounded from the one end
of the long road to the othei-. Modern invention has
almost totally supplanted this implement. But I like
the music of the flail, and with the accompaniment of
the keen whirr of the spinning-wheel, and the meas-
ured beats of the old sipiare loom, which was in motion
in almost every house, it was infinitely ahead of the
tones of the piano. This may be in bad taste upon
my part, but I am now too old to be taught other-
wise ; nor do I desire to be.
The principal crop in those days was wheat.
Upon the sale of tliis, the tarmer relied for all the
money he received. The remaining products of the
farm were used in barter and exchange. There was
very little money: what there was came from Easton,
en the Delaware, the market for the wheat of the
"tkips to easton." 275
whole valley. There were no banks. Easton hank
hills made up the entire currency.
When the winter set in, the first matter was the
thrashing of the wheat. It was put away in bins,
awaiting the fall of the first snow for transportation.
When this occurred, all was commotion. The mo-
ment the snow fell in sufficient quantity to warrant
the journey, the teams were started. The distance
by the Easton and Wilkes-Barre Turnpike, and then
the only avenue of travel out of the valley toward the
east, was sixty miles. The round trip could be made
in three days. The load was usually about thirty
bushels.
It was an exciting and pleasant excursion in early
days, this Easton journey. I have hauled many a
load, and I have counted on Pecono a hundred sleds
in line. The jingling of bells, the mirth and laughter,
and sometimes the sound of music^ gave it a charm
that made it very agreeable. Besides this, every tavern
upon the roadside had its fiddler, and we generally
had a dance for half the night, and then ofi" in the
morning, our horses steaming in the snow flakes, and
the merry songs and shouts made the summits of Po-
cono and the Blue Mountain ring with their echoes !
Ah! if we could only always be young!
I noticed, however, in these " trips to Easton," as
they were called, that the " old settlers " enjoyed
them quite as much as the boys. The first segar I ever
smoked was while walking behind my sled up the Blue
-iO uisrouuwi. sKKTouKs ov" riAMorTn.
AlouutAiu. 1 ivnuMubov it wvll. tor tho otVoot^ wore
not so agivoablo. I Nvas thou a bov ot" jioiuo oightoou
yt?ars; I am told that vouwg- gvutlenieii oouiu\oi\vV
smoking now at oight and ton yoafs of ago. !So muoh
tor pivgiv!«s.
l^nt I am waudoving.
Kvorv tannov in iho days I am writing about.
i-aistxl his own thvx. Fivni it tho liuon ot" tho hons<.^
hold wi\* manntaotmvd; ho givw his own wool: ho, in
tact, pivdnood tivni his land almost ovorything oon-
smued m tho family, l.uxurios woro tow. tho nooos-
S{U"\os of life wvro abundant. 1 havo no ivason to
question, hut that undor this mode and manner of
life the mavises enjoyed themselves and wen? i\uite as
happy as they are now. >yay. more so; for no debts
weiv inounvd thou as now, in apoing the follies and
the viivs of those who assume a higher sooial position
on aeoonnt of their money.
Fitty yoai-s agv ovjuality was tho rule: oaste in
society had not ivaivd its head; thetv was no mwssity
of striving for the highest ivund in tho ladder Ivcauso
all were perched upon it. Every man was as good as his
neighbor, that is if he behavevi himself vrell. lie wi^s
not set lv\c"k for the ivason that his hands wore soiU\l
with labor, or that he woiv a homespun coat.
lattle was known in tho primiti\*e days of our
town alxMit distinction in the social ivlations of Hte,
There was a common scale of friendly and personal
interconi-so which was verv ffeneraUr acknowU\lge^l
K()(;rAii i^'-QiiAMTv. 277
11,11(1 (»l)Hc,rv('.<J. ^rii(! (',x(;(!|tl,i()ii (,0 Um; nilo WUH iiiinioniJ
iiiid vI<;ioiirt coMiliict. "^^I'lic iiuui wlio corirormcd to Llio
proprioticH of a wiill-ordcrod Hocial HyHtorDj and was
induHl.iioMH in liin liii,l)iiH, rankod wiili i\w hoHt, with-
out rcj^anl to liin callirifj; or occupation, or the amount
of proj)(;rty he poHHCHHcd. Tho tra(h;Hnian, tlio mer-
chant, the mechanic, and the farmer, m to social
caHtci, all fitood upon the Ramo platform, (irade was
unknown, cxc(;pt jnciaHunid l)y induHtry and moral ex-
cellence. The same board wan Hpnvul for the whole
household. Tlie homespun cloth furnished the mate-
rial for the wliole family wardrobe; the hired man, tlie
hinid ^irl, and th(i aj)prentice came in for a share
u])on the ecpjality princi^de with tlie employer juid
master.
Industry was the common theme, and hence very
few holidays were ol)Kerved. N(;w Year's day, Christ-
mas, and the Fourth of duly (;mhraced them all, and
pressing engagements on hand would often overrule
the observance of those festive periods. Industry the
year round was the universal creed, and to it all
yielded implicit obedience. Idleness was disrepu-
tahle. And for the reason that crime was extrem(;ly
rare, it was therefore regarded with more ahhorrence.
It is familiarity with this, and when of frequent oc-
currence, that relieves it of half of its rej)ulsive char-
acter.
This general social intercoarse brought the people
closer together, and gave them u deeper feeling of
-T> HISTORICAL SKETCHES 01^ rLYSlOUTH.
interost in each other's affairs. It ^^•;\s not an umisual
thing for the \vhoh> farming eonimnnitv to turn out
and gather the ei\^p, Avhioh ^Yonhl otherwiise have gvnie
to wj\ste, of some nnfortnuate neighbor ^Yho \m\s pros-
trate<.l upon a siek bini. This I have very freixuently
^YitnesstHi, and scjutx^ly a year pissed that an inst^ince
did not take ph\ee.
Bvvs weiv very common with the men, chopping
new gixnindy raising huihiingSj corn hushing, and a
variety of other branches of mamial hibor: with the
women, qnilting, spinning, sewing, etc.
These fivquent assemblages of the peoph^ were a
means of uniting industry with ph^asui'e. They
wouhl generally conclude with a supper, succcetled by
games and otlier amusements: sometimes by a dance
This, however, was of rare occurrence, as the Furitau
mind had not yet come down to the l>elief, that danc-
ing was altogether a harmless recreation !
The settlei-s were very gvnerally Xew England
people, ami the social customs of their ancestors were
pretty generally adheiwl to. Pjmcing, therefore, "was
an innovation, and its progress was slow. But in
the end it was reg^arvled with more favor, and very
pi\>perly too, so tliat at this day, in our town, thei-e
are few probably of the " stnughtest " religious sect
who would condemn the amusement.
Buildings for the purpose of religious woi-ship and
for education wei-e eivcted by common contribution.
All g^\^■c their mite in these enterprises, and those
THE OLD ACAD E M Y.
FAMILIARITY OF RELIGIOUS SECTS. 279
who had not money gave their labor, so that there
was no tax imposed, and consequently no sinecure for
the indolent, in its collection. No one grew suddenly
rich because he was fortunate enough to hold the tax
duplicates. There was but one road open to compe-
tence and respectability, and that was honest, diligent
and persevering lal)or.
All denominations of religion worshipped in the
second story of the old Academy for a great number
of years. The fact that a particular sect had occu-
pied the common benches on one Sabbath day, did
not require their purification before another sect could
use them on the next. Presbyterian, Methodist, Bap-
tist, Episcopal, Christian, Catholic and Congregational
in turn, all knelt at one common altar, and they were
none the worse for it. The public morals and private
virtues were not dimmed in the least particular by
this familiar intercourse. It may be said, however,
that this state of things was better suited to a primi-
tiv(;, simple people than to a people more advanced in
civilization. It is possible, barely possible.
The schools were kept open winter and summer;
in summer, however, they were taught by female in-
structors; in winter, by male. It was small children
only who attended the summer school; the larger ones
were at labor.
The school-master " boarded around." And as
most of my readers may not know what this means, I
will explain it. Ho would go from house to house
280 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF TLYMOUTH.
for board and lodging", among the patrons of tlie
school, and remain aeeordiug to a sehednle of time,
which he based upon the mmiher of his pnpils, and in
the proportion -whieh each patron sent to him. It was
frequently said, however, hut I do not pretend to as-
sert upon what ground ot' authority, that the master
did not always adhere to his schedule time with all.
He would eyer incline to exceed his limit where he
tared best, and shorten it where he tared worse. And
it was not unfroipiontly the case that the master in en-
tering into his contract, which was a monthly allow-
ance, "board and lodging in," provided to be relieved
from sojourning with certain families; though this was
a kind oi' confidential arrangement, and charity would
ascribe it to distance, a large family, or sickness.
And this was the way in which the kind-hearted,
burly old settlers would dispose of a knotty question;
and their memory is to be held in generous remem-
brance for it.
Among those who may be classed as the early per-
manent instructors, were Jonah Rogers (of whom no-
tice has already been made), Thomas Patterson and
Charles C. Curtis. Dr. Tliomas Sweet, an eminent
physician afterwards, and now a resident of Scranton,
taught occasionally; and, by the way. the doctor
presented me with a thin, tlat ruler, a few years since,
which he said he broke over the shoulders of the writer
for misconduct, and had retained it some fifty years as
a souvenir of early days. The circumstance had passed
THE SCHOOL-MASTERS. 281
my memory, as flagellations in the remote days of
which we are writing were of too frequent occurrence
to be held in memory. The old idea, and one by no
means to be scouted, pretty generally prevailed, " that
if you spared the rod you spoiled the child."
Jonah Rogers never called up a poor urchin for
punishment that this quotation was not a matter pre-
cedent; and the consequence was that he came very
nearly making his whole school unbelievers in the di-
vine doctrines of the revelation ! But I must say
that while the good old man made a great deal of fuss
and talked very loud, and looked uncommonly fero-
cious, his blows were exceedingly light. He taught
in the public school of Plymouth probably fifteen
years, commencing, I am informed, not far from 1800.
Thomas Patterson succeeded him, and he contin-
ued as the principal instructor for probably ten years.
He spent his summers upon his farm, and his win-
ters in Plymouth in the capacity of teacher. He
possessed a very good education; in all the English
branches he was very proficient, and he had some
knowledge, though limited, of the classics. He had
much energy of character, and was a man of strict
integrity and honor. He was an Irishman. Having
taken part in the Rebellion of 1798, he fled in disguise
from his native country and made this one his home.
He would often tell his scholars of the marked and
bloody events of the noble effort of the Irish people
to rid themselves of their English oppressors; and in
282 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
speaking of the execution of Eobert Emmet — witli
whom he was acquainted — upon his conviction of
high treason, the old man would shed tears.
His reverence and love for the free institutions and
government of the United States were unbounded.
He would say, " that the only hope for the ameliora-
tion of the condition of man was centred in the
American Kepublic; that when this system failed, de-
basement and slavery would follow in its train."
I attended his school when he commenced teach-
ing in Plymouth. This was not far from 1817. He
was then a man of near fifty, stout, broad-shouldered,
and nearly six feet in height. He had a well-de-
veloped head, prominent features, a keen blue eye,
heavy bushy eyebrows, and when his countenance
was lighted up, he exhibited evidence of great intel-
lectual power. The old gentleman always had lying
upon his desk, before him, a bound volume containing
the speeches of Ourran and Grattan, with the speech
of Emmet delivered before his judges, when the ques-
tion was propounded as "to what he had to say why
the sentence of death should not be pronounced
against him." A boy of sixteen, I committed this
speech to memory, and would declaim it occasionally
in school exercises, which was very agreeable to his
feelings; and I have no doubt but that this fact led to
the liberal education which I afterwards received, as
the old gentleman never ceased his importunity with
my father to give his son a collegiate course. And
THE SCHOOL-MASTERS. 283
Ms arguments prevailed. It is due, therefore, that I,
at least, should honor the old patriot's memory, and
I do.
He came to the valley soon after the conclusion of
the Irish EebeUion, selected this spot as his home,
married a daughter of the late Colonel Nathan Deni-
son, of Kingston, and settled in Huntington, where he
ended his days. He died some twenty years since.
On a visit to Huntington some years ago, I went some
distance out of my course to visit the old man's grave.
He left a comfortable estate to his family. Three of
his sons held prominent positions of trust in the
Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, in the days of
Josiah White and Erskine Hazard. One of them,
Ezekiel, is a prominent man in New Brunswick, New
Jersey.
Charles C. Curtis was the successor of Thomas
Patterson. He continued several years in the public
school as instructor. He was a kind and affable man
in his deportment, and very highly respected for his
probity of character. He married a daughter of
Colonel George P. Eansom, who still survives her
husband. Mr. Curtis, after the close of his occupa-
tion as school-teacher, settled down with his family
upon a farm in Jackson township, inherited byjiis
wife from her father, where he died about the year
1850.
And thus much for the early instructors of the
youth of Plymouth. There were others, but they
284 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
were of more recent date, and I cannot therefore speak
of tliem from my own knowledge.
The languages were taught in the old Academy as
early as 1829. Mr. Nyce and Mr. Patterson, gradu-
ates of Dickinson College, were engaged three or four
years in the capacity of teachei'S — they were suc-
ceeded by Mr. Seiwers.
I am not aware that the dead languages have been
a part of the system of education in Plymouth since
Mr. Seiwers left.
As it is not my purpose to bring the Historical
Sketches of Plymouth down to a later period than
1850, it will be no part of my labor to speak of the
later progress of the school system, and which has
been attended with very cheering and hopeful pros-
pects, not only as regards our town but the coimtry
at large.
CHAPTEE XII.
OLD LANDMAEKS. POUND, SWING-GATE, COMMON-
FIELD, SIGN-POST, MILLS, ETC.
IN early days, the " Shawnee Flats " were all with-
in one common enclosure. The several lots com-
posing the great field were divided by surveys,
with stone monuments at the corners, but there
were no fences dividing as well as protecting the re-
PUTTING UP FENCES. 285
spective ownerships. The annual floods, caused hj
the rise of the Susquehanna, were deemed too formid-
able to permit the idea of erecting fences. Since the
great ice flood of 1784, which removed all the buildings
from Garrison Hill, no owner has presumed to put up
buildings for any purpose upon the lower plain.
About the year 1820, my father made the first
experiment of inclosing his land by fencing. The
other proprietors, waiting a year or two, and seeing
that the fences remained, followed his example, and
in a short time each owner had at least the exterior
lines of his lots protected by inclosures. These, from
that time down, have been pretty generally main-
tained.
Before this, the river was the only barrier on one
side, and the fence, which skirted the main road, on
the other. The two ends of the plain coming to an
acute angle, the highway and river were very close
together at each.
After the crops were gathered in the fall, the
whole field was thrown open to the public. This was
bad farming, as the winter crops were very much in-
jured by being eaten off and trampled upon by the
herds of cattle grazing over them. This led to the
necessity of enclosures, and a good farmer would be
well satisfied if he did not have to replace his enclo-
sures oftener than every seventh year — about half the
ordinary time they would have lasted without the ac-
cident by floods.
286 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
But while the plain was thus in common, and
which continued from 1784 to 1820 — nearly forty
years — some extraordinary means had to be adopted
to prevent the trespasses of cattle running at large.
To obviate this, the proprietors of the flats — and
this embraced very nearly two-thirds of the taxable
inhabitants — erected a public Pound. This structure
was built of hewn logs. It was of an octagon shape,
covering an area of probably a thousand square feet,
and some ten feet in height. It stood on the lower
side of the flat road, and at the junction of it with
the main thoroughfare, upon land of the late Colonel
Eansom, and a few rods east of the old red mansion
house, in which he resided many years, and in which
he died.
In this stronghold were impounded all the cattle
which were found running at large upon the Flats,
before the season of their being thrown open to the
public. The owners conid only procure their release
on the payment of a fine. This averaged probably
about twenty-five cents a head, which was paid to the
" Key Keeper." This ofiicer, at the first date of my
own recollection — over a half century ago — was Heze-
kiah Koberts. He occupied a house upon the little
rise of ground on the opposite side of the way from
the pound — now the estate of Oliver Davenport, Esq.
Hezekiah was an active, dajjper little man, and
supposed that the running gear and the machinery of
the whole universe, and the United States in particu-
THE "key-keeper." 287
lar, depended very much on the faithful discharge of
his duties as keeper of the municipal keys.
You might see him every morning during the
summer, at the dawn of day, mounted on his gray
horse, making a reconnoissance of the hig field, and if
he made a large haul, it was a pretty profitable day's
work. He did not become, in this tour of a Sunday
morning, lialjle to a fine for pursuing worldly employ-
ment on the Lord's day. It was a work of necessity.
For while the forefathers were very exemplary, and
extremely exacting in the observance of the Sabbath,
they still had an eye to the security of their crops.
All very proper, undoubtedly. This office of " Key-
Keeper," at the first settlement of Plymouth, was
considered a matter of especial trust, and was a mark
of distinction that no one of them would refuse. I
have already mentioned the fact that at a town meet-
ing of the people of "Westmoreland, held on " March
y° second, 1774," Thomas Heath, one of the promi-
nent men of the town, was chosen for this office.
Next to the selectman and the board of directors,
came this functionary. His duties were to hold the
keys of the garrison, the church, the school-house, the
pound, and the swing-gate. And it was a mark of
the public confidence for which any man of reasona-
ble ambition might very properly feel elated. He
may have been said to have carried the state and the
church in his breeches pocket; at all events, the key
which opened the door to each. And I can well re-
18
288 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
member tlie impression the display of these bright
shiuing evidences of power, as well as personal dig-
nity, made upon my mind. No less, probably, than
that produced by the distinguished personage entrust-
ed with the keys of Dover or Calais, upon the hum-
ble people of the wayside.
As these were the days of summary justice, the
public sign-post in its double capacity of gazette and
whipping-post, supplied the place of criminal records
and prison, and there was no occasion for a jail key on
the official ring. Whipping and banishment were the
two penalties for crime. Our early pioneers went
upon the principle that it was not worth their while
to be bothered with lock-ups, and taken from their
useful occupation to lounge about courts, waiting days
and weeks for a trial, in the case of some miserable
fellow who was of no account to the community, in
prison or out of prison. So for a small offense they
tried the culprit, and if found guilty, tied him up to
the whipping-post and gave him ten or twenty lashes;
and thus fifteen minutes ended the whole matter, and
the court, the constable, the complainant, witnesses,
and the criminal could all go to work, and probably
in the same field. A pretty efficacious, if not sensi-
ble, way of doing things. The fellow who committed
felonies they sent ofi" to Connecticut to be dealt with
according to his deserts, and for the intermediate
grade of crime they banished. So that dispatch was
the order of the dav, and moderate taxation.
HEZEKIAH ROBERTS. 289
My own memory does not reacli back to the time
when the whipping or sign post, or the town forti-
fications were in use. So that when I first became
acquainted with the town key-keeper, in the person
of Mr. Hezekiah Eoberts, he only had on his ring the
key of the pound, the school-house and the swing-
gate. Troublesome men had crept into the church; it
now had two doors to it, so that the old office — which
in the days of Thomas Heath was of great honor and
importance — I am sorry to say, in the days of Heze-
kiah Eoberts, had become very much curtailed, though
still respectable; and people who did not have "just
at that moment " the ready money to pay over for the
redemption of their impounded cattle, were very ob-
sequious to Mr. Koberts.
The old pound was one of the institutions of its
day, and its locality and purposes were well under-
stood by every man, woman and child over six years
of age, fifty years ago in Plymouth.
Some thirty years since it disappeared ; the in-
closures on the flats, and the people beginning to learn
that it was not lawful to permit their cattle to
run at large, seemed to have diminished the necessi-
ties for its continuance. It was a landmark, and I
could not well pass by it in silence.
Famous as is the memory of the Pound, the " old
swing-gate " is quite as much so. That and its chil-
dren have survived a hundred years. It opened to
the flat road, and through it passed and repassed
290 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
daily during tlie summer season, going to and returning
from their labor ; the substantial representative men
of the township; men who were an honor to their race
because they lived by the sweat of their brow, and
whose word did not require to be wi'itten down or at-
tested by a witness. And through it rolled too, upon
creaking wagons, the annual produce of a thousand
acres of as fertile land as the sun ever shone upon.
Why this should have been particularly called the
swing-gate, I do not understand, as I am pretty sure
that there was not in the township any other gate,
public or private, that did not swing upon hinges.
This too will probably disappear in time.
" The commonfield," so called because it was the
parade-ground, the place where the common sign-post
was located, and the spot of general rendezvous, was
upon Ant Hill. The ground was originally eight
rods wide, and extended from the brow of the hill
above the house of J. W. Eno, Esq. The fences
upon the west side have gradually encroached upon
the " commonfield," and it is now by no means what
it was fifty years since. We find so long ago as the
twenty-fourth of March, 1786, at the meeting at
which John Franklin was chairman and Jonah Rog-
ers clerk, that the people owning land on the borders
of the commonfield were encroaching upon it, and
that they warned them off", with the exception of the
Widow Heath. Her house was made a special case,
probably because her husband had been entrusted at
THE OLD ELM. 291
one time witli the responsible office of holding the
public keys. This commonfield has long since ceased
to be occupied for public purposes.
I can remember when it was used for military pa-
rades, but for no other purpose.
But on this field stood a hundred years ago, and
stands to-day, the lofty old elm which was the public
sign-post of our ancestors. There is no reason but
wantonness why this old landmark should be re-
moved. Like the Charter Oak of revolutionary mem-
ory, now standing upon the Boston " commonfield,"
it should be nursed and preserved with the same care
that it is. It should have a strong barricade put
about it, that its life may be prolonged to the latest
possible day.
If the old elm had a tongue and could speak,
strange stories to our ears, at least, would it relate. It
could inform us that on such and such days, such and
such ofienders, who stood charged and convicted of
sundry and divers crimes of " swearing, drunkenness,
frauds, gaming, and idleness," were lashed to its
rough bark, and soundly whipped, as they deserved
to be, for these and all like crimes and offences !
Wise men were the good, solid men of Plymouth.
Labor was honorable, and idleness a punishable
crime. They knew how to keep down taxes; and
honor to their memory, for their independence of char-
acter in adopting and enforcing, too, the means to
prevent idleness and dissipation. But I fear that the
292 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
■wisdom and courage of tliese old patriarchs, were tliey
back to-day, would not be equal to the task of re-
formation.
Mr. Pearce informs us, in his "Annals of Lu-
zerne," that '• Eobert Faulkner erected a log grist-mill
in 1780, on Shupp's creek, below the site of the old
Shupp mill ; and the same year, Benjamin Harvey
erected a log grist-mill and residence on Harvey's
creek, which was occupied by his son-in-law, Abra-
ham Tillbury; and that about the same time, Heze-
kiah Eoberts erected a saw-mill on Eansom's creek;
and in 1795 Samuel Marvin built a saw-mill on
"Whittlesey's creek, on the Calvin Wadhams farm."
The foundations of these old mills have passed away.
I remember the old log grist-mill of Mr. Tillbury,
and the saw-mill on Whittlesey creek: the others had
disappeared before my day.
The Shupp mill must have been erected as early
as 1800. That, when I was a boy, was the principal
flouring mill of the town, and many a time have I
carried my grist on horseback to it. One horse
wagons were unknown till after the close of the war
of 1812, Mr. Philip Shupp, the grandfather of the
present gentleman of that name, now a resident of
Plymouth, then owned the miU and mill farm. A
short, gtout-built old German, from Northampton
county, and a man of the strictest integrity, I have
known three generations at that mill. It has also
disappeared.
THE SHAD FISHERIES. 293
Having spoken of the stone threshing-floor, the
barricades, and the old Academy, with a notice of the
other old landmarks of Plymouth, I conclude the sub-
ject, in the earnest hope and prayer that the old
Academy and the big elm sign-post may be permitted
to remain as venerable indexes, pointing back to the
good old days of our ancestors. They are not here to
speak for them, and in humble supplication I do, in
their name, and on their behalf.
CHAPTER XIII.
SHAD FISHERIES. GAME.
WHEN the State of Pennsylvania commenced
the building of her public canals, it put an
end to the shad fisheries. It became necessary to use
the large rivers for the purposes of feeders; and the
erection of dams to accomplish this, created a barrier
which totally interrupted the annual ascent of this
delicious fish up the Susquehanna. Before that, this
stream had become famous for its shad fisheries, and,
in fact, this product was one of the chief staples of
food in the early settlement of the country. The
system of internal navigation commenced in 182.5;
since then the fisheries have been abandoned. It was
in one sense a public calamity, for the people along
the shores of the Susquehanna looked forward with as
294 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
mneli interest to the fishing season as to the time of
their harvest. The crop, indeed, was quite as im-
portant to them. Many poor families the fisheries
supplied with the chief article of their food, for at
least a third of the year. By a reference to Franklin's
diary, it will be seen that one of the causes of the
wrongs inflicted upon the Plymouth settlers by
TTilkes-Barre magistrates, as far back as 1784, and
of which he complains, was the destruction of their
fishing-nets and seines.
From that time down to 1825, a period of thirty-
nine years, the shad crop was relied upon by the
people as one of the utmost importance. Large num-
bers of the people of Plymouth were shareholders in
the shad fisheries. Those who were not, were sup-
plied at a mere nominal price. Previous to 1800,
the price probably did not average more than two
cents a piece, and from that period up to 1825, when
the dams were put in the river, the highest price did
not exceed eight or ten cents apiece. Thus a laboring
man, who had no interest in the fisheries, could lay
in his year's supply for the receipts of a week's wages.
And while the whole population along the Sus-
quehanna were exceedingly anxious to have the canal,
they indulged in feelings of deep regret at the idea
that it would result in the total destruction of their
fisheries. The great advantages they contemplated
from the inland navigation, overbalanced the conse-
quent loss of the fisheries. They submitted, but a
THE SHAD FISHERIES. 295
great many of the old settlers could hardly reconcile
their minds to the exchange. They did, however, hut
with extreme reluctance.
The day of railroads had no existence forty years
ago. " De Witt Clinton and the grand canal," were
the watchwords of progress. New York led off, and
the other states followed in her wake. The motto
was interwoven upon handkerchiefs and vest patterns.
I well remember of wearing a vest with these words
interwoven all over it. And so with the ordinary-
water pitchers; they would be decorated with the
profile likenesses of Washington, Lafayette, Decatur,
Lawrence, Perry, or Scott, so that every time the old
pioneer brought the cider mug to his mouth, he had
looking him in the face some one of the land or ma-
rine heroes of the country. A good reminder ! It
may be said these were days of primeval simplicity.
I would they could return to us again. Particularly
if they would bring along with them those habits of
honest rusticity, when jails were tenantless, and the
scaffold a thing of the imagination only.
But our subject is not to theorize, but to jot down
facts and things connected with the past, and blended
with the lives and transactions of our ancestors.
Plymouth was noted for its good shad fisheries.
There were three of them. " The Mud Fishery,"
nearly opposite the old Steele ferry. The point of
" hauling out " was on the west bank of the river,
and probably a half mile below " Ganison Hill," called
296 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FLYMOUTH.
also a ''night lisUovy." Tliev never drew the seine in
the daytime. I have taken part in the work liere a
great many nights, in years gone by, and have shared
as many as a hundred shad for the hibc-r of a night.
Another fishery was located at " Fish Island,"
sometimes called " Park's Island." Its last name
came from the residence of an old rheumatic man
■who hobbled on two crutches, one under each arm-
pit, with a bag slung over his shoulders, in which he
carried herbs. He was an herb doctor, and was
known tar and wide as Dr. Parks. Some time about
the year 1S35, he made a voyage to Washington, D.
C, in his canoe. He went for a pension, and he got
it. He came back with his canoe by the way of the
Chesapeake and Delaware canal: thence up the Del-
aware to Easton, and then up the Lehigh navigation
to White Haven, within twenty miles of his home.
Canoes in past days were an important river craft. I
have already stated that this was the vessel Colonel
Franklin navigated when he went on his mission from
the valley to Annapolis, to present the settlers' peti-
tion to Congress. He informs us that he left his
canoe at Conawago Falls, near Harrisbnrg, and pro-
ceeded the rest of his journey on foot, by land.
Dr. Parks being unable to walk, or with very
great difiiculty, passed through the falls and landed
at the wharves on the Potomac at Washington. The
doctor gave a circumstantial and interesting account
of his voyage on his return, and exhibited his pension
THE SHAD FISHERIES. 297
certificate; as to the propriety of granting it, the people
of the valley generally entertained very grave doubts.
And I believe it never has yet been ascertained, and
probably never will be, for what particular military
service this bounty was granted. He said "it took
him just two months to make the voyage; and the
rheumatics enemost killed him, too; the tide water,
seemed to baffle the vartu of all his yarbs, and at one
time he nearly give in."
Dr. Parks had a slab hut some ten feet square,
and six feet high, on Fish Island. This was his dom-
icile and home, except during high floods, and when
these occurred, the doctor, along with the exodus of
his friends and neighbors, the muskrats, would seek
refuge on the main land. His cabin was fastened by
a cable to a huge sycamore hard by.
The old name of Fish Island became partially
obscured; the long residence of the root doctor at-
taching to it his own patronymic. Before the erec-
tion of the dam immediately below, this island was
much larger than it is now, the back flow of the
water has submerged probably two-thirds of the
original surface.
This was a day fishery, and in early times there
were some most extraordinary " hauls " made. One
of them, somewhere between 1790 and 1800, tradi-
tion informs us, yielded " nine thousand nine hundred
and ninety-nine shad." I have been informed by
persons who were present, that this haul was made on
298 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
a Sunday morning; that in bringing tlie seine to, on
tlie point of tlie island, it soon became apparent tliat
the twines of the meshes would not withstand the
pressure of the load, and that two other nets were
put around it, and in this way only a part of the
immense catch was secured. That the number of
fish taken at this haul was nearly or quite ten thou-
sand, there is no question. I have heard the relation
of the story from the mouths of credible persons who
were present at the time.
The third was known as the "Dutch Fishery,"
located at the lower end of the narrows below Nanti-
coke; the upper end of the Croup farm was the point
of " hauling out." The fishing was done most gen-
erally here during the night, though occasionally they
dragged their nets in the daytime. My father said
that his share at one night's catch, at this fishery,
was nineteen hundred. He was the owner, however,
of the seine, and drew a fifth of the product.
I think that it may be fair to estimate that these
three fisheries, in an ordinary season, would yield not
less than two hundred thousand shad. The state,
therefore, in closing up the natural channels of the
Susquehanna, did an immense injury to the people
along its shores. The pohcy, however, which caused
it may have made a full equivalent for the damage in
other ways. The generation, however, who immedi-
ately preceded us, could not forget the annual luxury
which the shad fisheries of the Susquehanna had
THE OSWEGO BASS. 299
aftbrded them. "With them it was ever a subject of
regret, that they had exchanged their fisheries for the
canal.
An attempt has been made within the few past
years to so arrange the schutes of the Susquehanna
dams that the shad may pass up them; but the
result thus far has been an almost total failure. The
people of this valley will probably never have the sat-
isfaction of seeing the river stocked with this most
delicious fish, so long as the waters are made contrib-
utory for feeders of the canal. The shad fisheries,
therefore are among the things of the past.
The Susquehanna, but for its shad, was not re-
markably celebrated for its fish. Eels were pretty
abundant in the fall of the year, but the season for
taking them was very short; and its waters contained
but few other specimens, and those comparatively in-
significant in number. " The Oswego bass," however,
were common in its waters, and sometimes obtained
a large size. I have seen them of fourteen pounds
weight.
Within my own recollection the Plymouth moun-
tains, and the broad stretch of forest between them and
the Blue Ridge, contained a great abundance of game.
Deer were remarkably plenty ; and wild turkeys
might be seen in large flocks. Pigeons, particularly
in the spring of the year, would alight upon the
Shawnee flats in countless numbers. Peter Gould,
who resided in a log; house a few rods above the Acad-
SCO HlSiTORICAL S5KST0HKS Or PLYMOr^TH.
eiUY, wa$ eelebmt<?d for hi«i sikill and ^uvxvj'j' iu takiiijj
thesis birvi$. He s^v^ld them at a ^hilln^ a doxew, with
a dull demaxid at that price, I have oecasioimlly
hov^ixl the wolvojs howl hv night on the Plyrnvnith
mountain.
The oleariug up, however, of the forest land, and
its occupation by the hu^K^mdman. drv^\'e otf the
remnant of these denizens of the wood : the deer
and the wild turhevs, with the red man, have disa].>-
I»eared.
Our town does not ehromele the names of any
very celebrated hunters. Those people lived a step
further towarvts the "given woods." Joseph Worth-
ington, of Lake memory, was a renowned hunter, as
was James AVandel of Union township. The ex-
ploits of these two men wc>uld till a small volume.
They wvmld make cvmtraets with the early retail deal-
ers of merehandise to furnish them g'ame by the
wagvm load, which was sent to ^S^ew York and Phila-
delphia in exchange ft>r goods. The price of venison
in those days was four and live cents a poxmd.for the
saddle.
These two men» when the game disapjx'ared,
wended their way west. They had K\^n so long ac-
customed to a life on the borvier, that they felt the
encrvvichment of the pioneer's axe. Worthingtvm
went first to Illinois, then to Kansas, and the last
hearvl of him was in California, still in pursuit of his
old ivnd darling oecttpation. Though now if living —
OLD HUNTERS. 301
and lie was a year, since — waning towards eighty, still
upon the track of the quarry ! A Daniel Boone of
the wild woods. Wandel also went west under the
same impulses which moved Worthington, and was
also living at a very recent date.
It is a marvel to what an extreme old age these
hunters will attain. We would suppose their occu-
pation would be very prejudicial to health. George
Sax, the great panther hunter of " the shades/' is
living at over eighty. I think that John McHenry,
of Fishing creek, is still living. Mr. Pearce, in his
Annals, informs us that the old hunter told him in
1840, that his registry then numbered nineteen hun-
dred deer and sixty-five bears, besides immense quan-
tities of other game.
The forests of the Susquehanna and its tributaries
were alive with game. When we reflect that the
streams also were well stocked with fish, and that the
natural prairies bordering the river were free from
trees and incumbrances, so that the Indian could
easily till his cornfields, we may well conclude that he
left his wigwam with as keen an anguish as the most
intellectual and enlightened white man would his
houses, his fields and his herds. Human natures are
alike in their attachments. The Indian was happy in
the occupation of his wild domain. He roved over it
with all the conscious pride of a conqueror. He ac-
knowledged no allegiance but to Manitou. The
(jrreat Spirit was, in his judgment, his only superior.
30"2 UISTOUIOAL SKETCHES OK FIAMOUTU.
To hiiu alone ho aokuowlodgvd sulnnission. To the
white man ho Avas too proud to pay tribute.
When t]\o Gorinau missionavv. prompted hv the
most elevated piety, and ready to moot almost any
saoritioe, approaehed the wig-warn of the Shawnees,
the keen and penetrating glanee of these ehildrou of
nature saw, that in the professions for the good of
their spiritual w^\nts, they wore coming iu contact
with a people who, though tliey might tender kind
olHccs, still might injflict great harm; they hmndished
their scalping-knives and exhibited every demonstra-
tion of dissatisfaction. They were prokibly in the
right. Events which followed show but too plainly
that the adA-ance of the white man was to them, the
signal of extermination and death.
But civilization cmue. aud the Indian and the for-
ests and the wild g-an\c A-anished hcfoi-e it. And in all
this change it is prob;\bly tor the best. The territory
of old riymouth to-day furnishes employment, and its
industrial pursuits fecvl some ten thousand intelligent
people. Ohuivhes and seminaries of learning, aud
manutj\ctories and machinery, all tell the st<:)ry of the
ad\-juice of knowledge and the useful arts. The ex-
changY of these for the oeeupations of the trapper and
hunter, bespeak a better state of thing-s. It is the
enlaip>ment of the area for the more useful em-
ployments of five and enlightened men. Though this
may have been a saeritiee to a tew. the general good
which the multitude has reaped, is a consummation
EARLY MERCIIANTH. 303
wliicli in 1,0 Ixi .'ipijrovcd. J{nj;i,(l and diirusivo as ilio
niyn ol' ilio kiki, Mk; l)IoHHin;^H of lii^fi civilization
i-oacli and perinea to the f^reat inaHHCH; tliouBandH arc
rriacJo ha])[)y and indojxjiidont, inntcad of the compar-
atively Hmall numb<;r of the past. We will conclude
tlie chapter with, the njinark of OtiieJJo to horttfit
Ia<^o, that "it in better aH it i,s."
CHAPTER XIV.
E A II L Y M E 11 C 11 A N T H .
3 ENJAMTN IIARVE Y, Jii., oiTJaj,tain Ransom's
^ Indej)endent Company revolutionary service, and
who died from exposure at Valley Eorge, seems to
have Ijeen the first merchant of Plymouth. In 1774
he started a small retail store in the lo»^ house of his
father, wliich has been already mentioned, and located
very near the site of the Christian Churcli building.
Here, for a couple of years, he dealt in a small way in
articles of absolute necessity — salt, leather, iron, a
few groceries, etc. At that time, and for many sub-
sequent years, all articles of merchandise were trans-
jjorted upon the river in " Durham boats." Thes(;
b(jats wer(; some forty feet in length, with a b(;am (;f
some ten feet, and would carry from fifteen to twenty
t(ms burden. They were propelled with long "set-
ting-poles," with iron sockets at the ends, three men
19
304 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF rLT3I0UTH,
on oacli side, with, a stoorsmau at tlie stern. Ten or
twelve miles up tlie stream was considered a fair day's
work.
These boats were the only means of transportation
of merchandise until the making of the Easton and
Wilkes-Barr^ turnpike. This thoronghtare was com-
pleted about the year 1S07. Thence down to the
time of the canal navigation in 1S30, the merchants
of the entire valley received all tlieir goods, either by
''Durham boats'' on the river, or by wagons on the
turnpike. The turnpike company was chartered in
1S02, and the road was constructed at a cost of
$^75,000. This road was regarded as a very import-
ant matter by the early settlers of the valley; and in-
deed such was the fact, as it gave a much shorter
outlet to the seaboard. The corporation was a joint-
stock company, and it required the contribution of
nearly every landholder in the valley to accomplish
the construction of this important link of intercommu-
nication. Seventy-five thousand dollars in 1S02 was
a large sum of money to be raised, and it required a
united effort of all the people to accomplish it.
The old " Conestoga wagon," drawn by four
horses, was the vehicle of transportation on the turn-
pike. It has disappeared: but it was a goodly sight
to see one of those huge wagons drawn along by four
strong, sleek, and well-fed lioi'ses, with bearskin hous-
ings and "winkers tipped with red.'" It was very
common to have a lifth horse on the lead. I have
THE CONESTOGA WAGONS. 305
seen trains of these wagons, miles in length, on the
great road leading to Pittsburg, as late as 1830. It
was the only way of transportation over the Allegheny
chain westward. A wagon would carry three, four,
and sometimes five tons. The bodies were long, pro-
jecting over front and rear, ribbed with oak, covered
with canvas, and generally painted blue. There were
several persons, residents of the valley, who made it
their only occupation to carry goods for the early
merchants here. Joshua Pettebone, one of this num-
ber, is still living in Kingston at an advanced age.
But in the days of the first merchant of Plymouth,
the " Conestoga wagon " was not known. His trans-
port was the " Durham boat." It will be remembered
that Benjamin Harvey, Jr., that same first merchant,
was at Fort Augusta, near Sunbury, with his boat, in
December, 1775, when Colonel Plunkett impressed
him and his vessel into the Proprietary service, imme-
diately preceding the battle of Nanticoke. He was
then on his way down the Susquehanna for a supply
of goods for his log store.
After the enlistment of Mr. Harvey in the United
States army, his father took charge of his small stock
of goods and sold them out, but the store was never
replenished.
From this time down to the year 1808, there
seems to have been no store kept in Plymouth. In
February of that year, my father, the late Joseph
Wright, opened a small retail establishment in the
306 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
east room of liis residence, in tlie lower end of the
village; the same building is now standing there,
in a good state of preservation. By a reference to his
ledger, which is in my possession, I find the first en-
try bears date the twenty-sixth February, 1808.
"Abraham Tillbury, Dr.
" To one qt. of rmn, at 7-6 per gallon, £0. Is.
10 l-2d."
It is well for our young people, therefore, to
know, that even as late as 1808, accounts were kept
in Plymouth in pounds, shillings, and pence.
Mr. Jameson Harvey informs me, and to whose
kindness I am indebted for many interesting facts
concerning the early settlement of our town, that he
made the first purchase at the new store. He bought
"a Jew's Harp, and paid sixpence for it in cash."
He being at that time a minor, it is probable
he did not deem it prudent to ask for credit. Mr.
Tillbury therefore, must be placed as second upon
the list.
These old books, which tell in plain and simple
language the plain and simple habits of a race of
people gone, I cannot lay aside without permitting
them to speak out. In the first place, the handwrit-
ing is dear to me; for it brings before me the benev-
olent and honest countenance of the man who noted
down the memoranda upon these venerable pages,
nearly seventy years ago. And in the next place,
are the names of all the hardy old settlers of the
THE WRIGHT HOUSE, AND BIRTH PLACE OF AUTHOR.
THE OLD LEDGER. 307
town, with tlie faces of nearly every one of whom I
was familiar. And their economy, and that all im-
portant question of living within one's means, are
spread out on every page of the ancient ledger. It
is true that the accounts against Ahraham Pike,
William Hodge, Thomas Car tSkadden, Benjamin
Rumsey, Adolph Heath, John L. Shaw and some
others, have rather too much of a sprinkling of rum
about them ; hut then we must remember that it
was wise lips which uttered the sentence — " Let him
that is without sin, cast the first stone."
The logic of the old ledger shows us that people
can live comfortably and happy without money.
Barter and exchange seem to have been the rule in
the primitive days of the town. The old ledger shows
the jjayment of a small, very small sum of money,
occasionally. Abijah Smith was one of the principal
customers of the store. He was then making a small
beginning of the trade, and engaged in the develop-
ment of an article which later years has increased to
a wonderful magnitude. He paid money, while nearly
all the other customers of the store paid in the pro-
duct of the farm. The accounts exhibit the fact that
of an annual sale of probably two thousand dollars,
there was not paid in casih, exclusive of the money of
Abijah Smith, ten pounds. The credits are for wheat,
rye, corn, oats and flax. The last article particularly is
a large item. And this is by no means singular, as
tow and linen cloth were staples of old Plymouth in
308 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH,
those remote days. Credit also for bear and deer
skins, venison and wild tnrkeys, appear here and
there, but cash rarel)^ Tlie goods bartered in
exchange were mostly the absolute and necessary
wants of life; iron, leather, salt, molasses (generally
sold by the pint and quart), sugar, tea, coffee (in
small quantities, a quarter and half pound at a time),
cutlery, spices; no cloths of any account, thread, nee-
dles, pins, calico, muslin and cambric (in small quan-
tities), to the most opulent; and these made the bulk
of the necessaries. The luxuries may be summed up
in rum, whisky, tobacco and snuff.
The old settlers of that day generally smoked
their tobacco in pipes. The charges of pipes, at
three-pence a piece, are numerous. The only entry I
find of cigars are several charges to John Turner, at
the very moderate price of three-pence a dozen.
The accounts embrace the names of the people
generally of the town — Calvin and Noah Wadhams,
Benjamin Eeynolds, Abraham and James Nesbitt,
Samuel and James Pringle, Thomas Davenport, Wil-
liam Currie, George P. Ransom, Mrs. Rosannah Har-
vey, Abraham, Nicholas and Stephen Yanloon, Hez-
ekiah Roberts, Joshua Pugli, Jonah and Joel Rogers,
Charles Barney, John and Daniel Turner, Jesse Cole-
man, Moses Atherton, Jacob and Peter Gould and
Philip Andrus. These, with names already given,
and a few others, were the principal customers at
Joseph Wright's store in 1S08.
JOHN B. SMITH'S OPERA HOUSE.
EARLY CUSTOMERS OF THE STORE. 309
There is not one of them except Abijah Smith
whose annual account amounts to a hundred dollars.
We do not find in this fact a want of ability to pay,
but it exhibits a frugality and a disposition of the
men of that day to contract no debt that they could
not pay. And to show how little our ancestors knew
about paper money, every note paid in is registered
in the back of the ledger, giving the name of the
bank issuing the note, from whom received, and its
date and number.
In 1812, Joseph Wright sold out his stock of
goods to the Eeverend George Lane, who continued
the best part of the year at the old stand, then taking
Benjamin Harvey, a son of Elisha, and whom we
must designate as the third of that name, into part-
nership with him, they commenced business in a
small frame building, lately removed by Mr. John B.
Smith, and on the site of the new Music Hall. They
continued on at this stand until 1816, when Mr.
Lane removed to Wilkes-Barre, put up a dwelling
and store at the north-west corner of the public square
and Market street (Osterhout proj)erty now), where
he carried on the business of a merchant for several
y6ars. Mr. Harvey the same year removed to Hunt-
ington, where he still resides.
The next mercantile adventure in the township
was a firm composed of Joseph Wright, Benjamin
Eeynolds, and Joel Rogers. This firm opened a store
in a small frame building on the east side of the road,
310 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF rLTMOUTH.
opposite the present residence of Mr. Henderson Gay-
lord. This was in tlie year 1S12. They employed
Mr. Gayloixi, then a young man and resident of Himt-
ington. as the clerk and salesman. And this yomig
gentleman here commenced the pursuit of an occupa-
tion, which he carefully and industriously followed
up in after years, with a very prosperous result.
This firm was dissolved in Octoher. ISl-i. and the
business continued hy Mr. Eogers and Mr. Graylord,
under the firm of Joel Eogers ^ Co., up to 1S16.
In this year a new fii-m of Eeynolds. Gaylord «S-
Co. was formed, consisting of Benjamin Eeynolds,
Henderson Gfaylord and Abraham Fuller, which con-
tinued to December. ISIS, wlien Abraham Fuller
died. From this period down to the fall of 1S24.
Mr. Gaylord continued the business, and then entered
into a partnership with the late WiEiam C. Eey-
nolds. This partnership lasted for a period of ten
years, under the firm name of Graylord & Eeynolds.
During this time they had established a branch at
EiQgston.
Shortly after the dissolution of the firm of Grtiy-
lord »S: Eeynolds, in 1S36. Mr. Gaylord and Draper
Smith formed a partnership, which continued down
to 1839, when it was dissolved.
In 1816, the business stand was removed to the
premises now occupied as a hotel by John Deen. and
continued there to the year 1S27. In that year Mr.
Gtiylord erected a store-house on the opposite side of
>
"1
HENDERSON G A T L O R D.
OLD FIRMS. 311
tlie street, in whicli he and Mr. Smitli earned on tlie
business till they dissolved, and Mr. Gaylord alone
from that time up to 1856, when he retired.
About the year 1828, John Turner opened a store
where Turner Brothers now are. Soon after that he
sold his stock to Gaylord & Eeynolds. Asa Cook,
now a resident of Eoss township, commenced business
in the Turner store, and was soon followed by John
Turner, in the same building, and the establishment
has been continued down to the present time either in
his name or the name of his sons.
Samuel Davenport and Elijah W. Eeynolds opened
a store where A. S. Davenport, son of Samuel, now
keeps, in the year 1834. This firm was dissolved in
1835, and the business continued by Samuel Daven-
port to the year 1840, when he formed a partnership
with John B. Smith; this firm lasted till the death
of Mr. Davenport, which was in the year 1850, and
for several years succeeding the store was continued
by Mr. Smith.
Ira Davenport opened the establishment he now
occupies in the year 1845. Chauncey A. Eeynolds
also opened a store in 1850, which was continued by
him some four or five years.
And this completes the history in a few para-
agraphs of the early merchants of the town. It is
an agreeable reflection that none of them failed or
became bankrupt. All of them were successful, and
the most of them, though begin ning with small
312 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
means, "became men of wealth. I am not aware that
any of them were addicted to habits of intemperance,
and being acquainted with them all, with the excep-
tion of Benjamin Harvej, the pioneer, if such had
been the case, it would not have escaped my knowl-
edge. They were, too, men of correct business hab-
its, and enjoyed the confidence and respect of the
people of the town.
It is certainly worthy of record, that among so
considerable a number of men engaged for so long a
period of time, that there should hare been no fail-
ures, and that sobriety and temperance should have
been a characteristic of every one of them, and each
successful. It may be a very difficult task to find a
parallel.
The business character, enterprise and upright
conduct, therefore, of the merchants of Plymouth of
earlier days, furnish a good model for the imitation of
their successors; and if he who writes the history of
the merchants of Plymouth at the end of the next
fifty years, will be able to truthfully state what is here
recorded of the fifty and more years past, it will not
merely be to him an agreeable duty, but will illustrate
the fact that moral precept and good examples have
had their influence.
SABIUEL DAVENPORT.
CHAPTEK XV.
COAL TRADE, AND COAL MEN.
IN the fall of the year of 1807, Abijah Smith pur-
chased an ark of John P. Arndt, a merchant of
Wilkes-Barre, which had been used for the transpor-
tation of plaster, for the price of $24.00. This ark
he floated to Plymouth, and loaded with some fifty
tons of anthracite coal, and late in the same season he
landed it safely at Columbia, Lancaster county. Pa.
This was probably the first cargo of anthracite
coal that was ever ofiered for sale in this or any other
country. The trade of 1807 was fifty tons; that of
1870, in round numbers, sixteen millions! It may
be fairly estimated that the sale of 1880 will reach
twenty-five millions.
Abijah Smith therefore, of Plymouth, was the
pioneer in the coal business. Anthracite coal had
been used before 1807, in this valley and elsewhere,
in small quantities in furnaces, with an air blast; but
the trafiic in coal as an article of general use, was
commenced by Abijah Smith, of Plymouth. The
important discovery of burning coal without an air
blast, was made by Hon. Jesse Fell, of Wilkes-Barre,
one of the Judges of the Luzerne county courts, on
the eleventh day of February, 1808, and less than
six months after the departure of the first cargo from
(313)
314 niSTOKIOAL SKF.TCHF.S OF rLTMOUTH.
tlie riymouth mines. This important discovoiy,
w-liich led to tlie use of coal for culinary and other
domestic purposes, enabled Mr. Smith, in the year
succeeding his first shipment, to introduce it into the
market. But even then, as is tlie case in most new
discoveries, the public were slow in coming to the
conclusion that it would answer the p\n"poses of fuel.
Time, however, has fully demonstrated its usefulness;
and the rapid increase of its consumption, from fifty
tons annually, to sixteen millions, in a period of a lit-
tle more than fifty years, is one of the wonders of the
nineteenth century.
The statistical tables of the trade, which yearly
appear in the public press, date the commencment
in 1S20. It is put down in that year at thi*ee him-
dred and sixty-rive tons, as the shipment from the
Lehigh region to market.
In this there is error, for thirteen years previous
to that time, as we have already stated, Mr. Smith
had shipped coal from his Plymouth mine. But in
fact the article had been put in the market long pre-
vious to 1S20, by other pei"sons than the Messrs.
Smith.
Charles Miner, Jacob Cist, John W. Robinson
and Stephen Tut tie, all of Wilkes-Barre, had leased
the old Mauch Chunk mines, and in August, 1S14,
had sent an ark load of it down the Lehigh. Mr.
George M. Hollenback sent two ark loads down the
Susq^uehanna, taken from his Mill creek mines, iu
ABU AH SMITH -3 n O A L OPENING 01-' 1807.
EARLY COAL MINING. 315
1813. The same year, Joseph Wright, of Plymouth,
mined two ark loads of coal from the mines of his
brother, the late Samuel (Jr. Wright, of New Jersey,
near Port Grriffith, in Pittston. This was an old
opening, and coal had been mined there for the
smith's forge as far hack as 1775. The late Lord
Butler, of Wilkes-Barre, had also shipjjed coal from
his mines, more generally known of late years as the
" Baltimore mines," as early as 1814, and so had
Crandal Wilcox, of Plaines township.
My object in making these references is to show
that the coal-trade actually began in 1807, and not
in 1820, as is now generally believed.
But while the persons I have named did not fol-
low up the business, Abijah and John Smith, his
brother, continued the business down to the period
of their respective deaths; and their children contin-
ued on the trade long afterwards.
Abijah Smith came to the valley in 1806, and
in that or the following year he jjurchased some
seventy-five acres of coal-land on the east side of Pian-
som's creek, for about five hundred doUars. In 1807
he commenced mining; and coal has been taken al-
most yearly from the opening he made dow^n to the
jjresent period.
In the year 1808, his brother John came to the
valley. He bought the coal designated in the deed,
from Wm. Curry, Jr., as " Potts of Coal," on the ad-
joining tract of one hundred and twenty acres, for
3 It) niSTOlUCAL ski: TO HE S OF FLY MOUTH.
the consideration of six hundred dollars. This mine
"wa^ soon after opened, and workings have heen unin-
terruptedly coutiuued ever since. Ahijali and John
vrere partnei-s iu the coal Inisiucss tor numy years.
They -wei^e natives of Perby, in the state of Connec-
ticut. From the time they commenced coal opera-
tions, they continued on in trade, as a means of living,
for the remainder of their lives. Ir >Yas their sole oc-
cupation. They prosecuted their employment with
great energy and perseverance, and amid a great
many difficulties and disappointments : and although
neither of them lived to see their anticipations real-
ized, their descendants — who are still the ownei-s of
the estates they purchased more than a half century
ag\~i — are enjoying the advantages and comforts which
resulted from their ancestor's foresight and judg-
ment.
Ahijah died in 1826. at his residence, the site of
which is now occupied hy the new brick Music Hall,
recently put up hy his son, John B. Smith, of Ply-
mouth. His brother John died iu 1S52.
I knew them both intimately for a great number
of years. They were industrious, upright and worthy
men. They started the coal trade, and their names
will ever be blended with it.
It is proper that we shoulit examine into the
details of the mode and manner of mining and trans-
portation, as pui-sued by these early pioneei"s iu the
business. There are but few now eno;-jioed in the li-reat
J O E >' ff 31 I T H.
PROCESS OF MINING. 317
trade who are aware of the troubles and sacrifices
which attended it in its infancy. We will look at the
child when in its swathing bands; it is now a giant,
but fifty years ago it was in its infancy. The experi-
ment which was perseveringly followed up, and beset
on all sides by difficulties and hazards, resulted in a
grand success.
The annual trade, which at the commencement
was limited to hundreds of tons, has now become tens
of millions of tons. The price of coal land of five
dollars an acre, in the days of the Smith purchase, is
now a thousand per acre. What the future d(jmand
for the article may be — or the annual production — the
future alone can determine, human foresight cannot;
nor can it be said that the field is inexhaustible.
There is a limit to it; and those who will occupy our
places five hundred years hence, will say that our
prophecy is not entirely fiction.
In the early process of mining, there was no powder
used: this, under the present system, is the chief
agency. It was all done with the pick and wedge. The
miner did his labor by the day, and received from fifty
to seventy-five cents. The product of his day's labor
was about a ton and a half; his time was from sunrise
to sunset. The coal was transported from the mine to
the place of shipment, in carts and wagons, and de-
posited upon the banks of the river, to be put in arks,
in the time of the annual spring freshets of the Sus-
quehanna.
318 HISTOKIO.VI. SRV.TOUF.S OF Vl.YMOTJTH.
The pTvx>os$ of n\i;iiug Avitli tlie pick and Avodgo
was too iilow and too oxpou^ivo. Mr. Abijah Smith
Ciuuo to the cvMiohi^ou that tho ovduiary powxlor
Wast might \v made availahle in miiai\g\ Ho must
hax^o some cue, howowr, who \vas aeoinjtomed to tho
quarries. There wns no ouo hoiv ^Yho imdei'stood the
Ini&iue^s.
In the NW^r ISlS ho found that he oouhl get a
man tor the work, Tliis man \ras John Fhmiganj of
Milford, Oonnectient His oeeupation was quarrying
stone with tlie powder Wast. He wivte to Mr. Fhviii-
gan to eome and make the experiment, — ^we say ex-
periment, heeause it was cvmtended that coal had not
enough of strength and consistency to be proj>erly
mined with a Wast. That the explosion wonhl not
reach tj\r enough, and kx'»sen and detach a suthcient
quantity to make the Wast economic^\l in mining.
In March of tJiat year, Mr. Fknig-an came on.
The ivsult of the experiment was a sneeess. We may
theretlnv chixniicU* the name of John Flanig-an as the
first man who ever bon?d a hole and applied the powder
Wast lu the anthracite coe\l of Pennsyh-ania, An im-
portant era in the c.unmeneement of a trade that has
Ixwnne so immense iu later yeaj^s.
In August of the Si\me year he returned to Mil-
forxi in company with Samuel Fivnch, a step-son of
John Smith, for the purpose of removing his timnly
to riymouth.
I am oWiged to Mrs. Flanigan, who is stiU living
MRS. FLANIGAN'S JOURNEY. 319
with one of her sons in Kingston, at a very advanced
age, for an account of their journey from Milford to
Plymouth.
She says, "that on the sixth of September, 1818,
my. husband, myself, and five children, in company
with Samuel French and Henry Gabriel, set out for
the Susquehanna. Our conveyance was a two-horse
covered lumber wagon, in which myself arid children
and a few traps were deposited; the men walking. At
the end of eleven of the longest days of my life, we
landed at Abijah Smith's, in Plymouth, I bore up
under the dreaiy journey, and j)resen^ed my courage
pretty well, till we struck the log way, on the Easton
and Wilkes-Barre turnpike, when I was forced to
give vent to my feelings, and wept like a child. Had
I but foreseen, before starting, the trials and misery
of the long journey ahead, I should never have con-
sented to have left my old home and friends."
Of this party, Henry Gabriel was one. He was a
blacksmith, and made Plymouth his home and resi-
dence. He married respectably, and spent a long, la-
borious and useful life there. He was a man of intecr-
rity, and a most excellent and exemplary citizen. He
accumulated some property, and died but a few years
since, beloved and regretted by the whole of the com-
munity, in which he spent the greater part of his life.
Samuel French afterwards became one of the prin-
cipal coal operators of Plymouth. He was engaged
in the trade for several years, and at a time when the
20
320 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
profits arising from it, conducted in tlie most skilful
and economical manner, would afford a living only.
Mr. Frencli, through much prudence and great in-
dustry, accumulated some property in coal lands,
which have recently been sold by his family at a thou-
sand dollars an acre.
He died some ten years since. He was a man
very highly esteemed, and his conduct and manner of
life most richly warranted it. Two of his sons are now
business men of prominence in Plymouth. A daugh-
ter of his is the wife of Elijah C. Wadhams, Esq.
The annual average of the business of the Messrs.
Smith, from 1808 down to 1820, was from six to
eight ark loads, or about four to five hundred tons.
The old Susquehanna coal ark, like the mastodon,
is a thing of the past. The present men of the busi-
ness should understand the character of the simple
vessel used by the pioneers of the trade. Its size and
dimensions, cost and capacity, must be chronicled.
And the difference between it and the present mode of
transportation is as wide as the rough old grate of
Jesse Fell — still to be seen — compared with the costly
heating fixtures of the modern palace, of the modern
coal prince.
The length of the craft was ninety feet, its width
sixteen feet, its depth four feet, and its capacity sixty
tons. Each end terminated in an acute angle, with
a stem-post surmounted by a huge oar, some thirty
feet in length, and which required the strength of
THE OLD COAL ARK. 321
two stout men to ply it in the water. It required, in
its construction, three thousand eight hundred feet of
two inch-plank for the bottom, ends and sides; or
seven thousand six hundred feet, board measure. The
bottom timbers would contain about two thousand
feet, board measure, and the ribs or studs, sustaining
the side planks, four hundred feet; making a total of
some ten thousand feet.
The cost at that time for lumber was
$4.00 per M $40.00
Construction, mechanical work. . . . 24.00
Kunning plank, oars, caulking material,
hawser (made of wood fibres), baiUng
scoops, etc 6.00
Total cost $70.00
The ark was navigated by four men, and the or-
dinary time to reach tide water was seven days. The
cost attending the trij) was about $50.00. Two out
of three arks would probably reach the port of their
destination; one-third was generally left upon the
rocks in the rapids of the river or went to the bottom.
The following estimate, therefore, of sixty tons of
coal, laid down in market, is not far from the facts:
Cost of mining 60 tons $45.00
Hauling to the river 16.00
Cost of ark 70.00
Expenses of navigation 50.00
Total $181.00
322 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
or eqnal to $3.00 a ton. To this must be added one-
tiiird for the perils of navigation, which will make the
actual cost of the ton at tide water, $4.00. Commis-
sions on sales, transhipment from the ark to coasting
vessels and other incidents, would probably make the
whole outlay upon a ton, about five dollars.
The average price of sales at this time was proba-
bly $10.00, leaving a profit of $5.00 on the ton. If,
therefore, three hundred and fifty tons of the five
hundred annually transported by the Messrs. Smith
reached the market, it left them a profit of seventeen
hundred dollars, not taking into the account their
personal services.
Eight hundred and fifty dollars each, A modern
family would consider themselves in very straitened
circumstances, if limited to this sum for their yearly
support. Times have materially changed, it is true;
but foolish and unnecessary wants have multiplied be-
yond all rules of propriety or necessity. These men
lived comfortably and respectably upon the product
of the business they were engaged in; and this did
not sum up a thousand dollars annually to each. If
the primitive days of our fathers did not spread their
tables with unnecessary luxuries, or their wardrobe
with tinselled tawdry decorations, they slept as sound-
ly, enjoyed themselves as well, and were quite as hap-
py as the most favored and wealthy of the present
time; nay, a thousand times more so ; for their wants
were few, and their ambition did not require curbs
and fetters to prevent its " overleaping itself."
"black stones" for fuel. 323
In this small way the coal trade continued on
from 1807 to 1820, when it assumed more importance
in the public estimation. The years preceding that
of 1820, were the years of its trials, and the men
during that period who were engaged in the business,
were merely able to sustain themselves with the
closest economy and the most persevering and unre-
mitting labor. Some of the Plymouth men who em-
barked in the business, made total failures; and oth-
ers encumbered their estates with debts which re-
q[uired subsequent years of labor to wipe out. It was
the work of forty years to convince the people that
" black stones " could be made available for fuel.
The problem at this day is fully solved.
The following account current, rendered by Price
& Waterbury, of New York, to Abijah Smith & Co.,
composed of Abijah and John Smith, in 1813, and
furnished me by Mr. John B. Smith, is a remarkably
interesting relic of the coal business in its infancy.
It very clearly exhibits two facts: one, the demand,
price and consumption of coal, in the great city of
New York, at that period; and the other, the won-
derful zeal manifested in the pioneer dealers to intro-
duce the article into the market.
The coal was sent to Havre de Grace, Maryland,
and thence by coasting vessels to New York.
"New York, February, 1813.
"Messrs. Abijah Smith & Co.— Gentlemen : Having lately-
taken a vie-w of the business we have been conducting for you this
324 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
sometime past, we have thought it -would be gratifying to have the
account forwarded, and therefore present you with a summary of it
up to the eighteenth of January, 1813, containing, first, the quan-
tity of coal sold and to whom ; second, the amount of cash paid by
us from time to time ; third, the amount of interest, cash on the
various sums advanced, the credit of interest on sums received, and
lastly, the quantity of coal remaining on hand unsold. Should you,
on the receipt of this, find any of the items incorrect, we need
hardly observe that the knowledge of such an error will be cor-
rected with the greatest pleasure. As it respects our future plan
of procedure, we shall expect to see one of your concern in the city
sometime in the spring, when a new arrangement may be fixed
upon. Our endeavors to establish the character of the coal shall not
at any time be wanting, and we calculate shortly to dispose of the
remaining parcels of coal unsold.
1812.
June 8. — By cash of Doty & Willets for 5 chaldrons
coal $100.00
By cash of John Withington for 5 chaldrons
coal 100.00
By cash of Coulthaid & Son for 10 chaldrons
coal 200.00
By John Benham's note (60 days) for 10 chal-
drons coal 200.00
By cash of G. P. Lorrillard for 1 chaldron coal 20,00
By cash of J. J. Wilson for 4 chaldrons coal .... 80.00
June 13. — By cash of Doty & Willets for 5 chaldrons coal . . 100.00
By cash of Gr. P. Lorrillard for 11^ chaldrons
coal 230.00
By A. Frazyer's note (90 days) for 25 chaldrons
coal 475.00
By cash received of T. Coulthaid for 5 chaldrons
coal 100.00
By M. Womas's note (90 days) for 20 chaldrons
coal 880.00
By half measurement, received for 9 bushels. ... 6.33
ACCOUNT CUKRENT. 325
June 13. — By B. Ward and T. Blagge for I5 chaldrons
at $20 25.00
By Wittingham for If chaldrons coal 10.00
June 25. — By Pirpont for ^ chaldron coal 11.00
By Mr. Lands for f chaldron coal 12.00
July 16. — By Robert Barney for 17| chaldrons at $23
per chaldron 385.00
Sept. 15. — By cash for 1 chaldron coal 12.50
Oct. 9. — By William Colman for ^ chaldron coal 12.50
By Sexton & Williamson for 1^ chaldrons coal 37.50
Oct. 24. — By cash for 1 chaldron coal 25.00
Oct. 29. — By cash for ^ chaldron coal 12.50
Nov. 7. — By cash for | chaldron coal 12.50
Nov. 12. — By cash for 1 chaldron coal 25.00
Nov. 16. — By Mr. A. Le Briton for 12 chaldrons at |25 per
chaldron 288.50
Dec. 5. — By cash for | chaldron coal 12.50
Dec. 11. — By cash of A. Daily for ^ chaldron coal 12.00
Dec. 14. — By cash for ^ chaldron coal 12.50
1813.
Jan. 4. — By cash for 1 chaldron coal 25.00
Jan. 18. — By J. Curtiz for 9 bushels coal 6.27
By amount of balance this day 763.13
Total $3,601.20
Errors excepted. PRICE & Watekbuky."
It -will be seen by this account current tliat coal
was sold by tlie clialdron : thirty-six bushels, or
nearly a ton and a third, to the chaldron. The sales,
therefore, for the New York supply in 1812, were inside
of two hundred tons. Though the price was liberal,
about $15.00 a ton, most of the early coal operators
of Plymouth were unsuccessful. The risk attending
326 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
the navigation, and the system of barter and ex-
change of those days, instead of cash, were serious
obstacles in the coal trade. And even at a later pe-
riod, when the canal opened a new thoroughfare of
transportation, the trade was not remunerative. The
demand for the article was limited, and it required
years of struggle to establish the cash in the place of
the credit system.
Mr. Daniel Davenport embarked in the trade
about the year 1826. He pursued the business for
several years, but the result was the final loss of the
greater part of his estate. ZibaDavenport also made
the attempt, but with no better result. And to the
unsuccessful catalogue of coal men may be added the
names of Thomas Borbidge, Francis J. Smith, John
Ingham, John Flanigan, and Martin Brenan.
At a later period, some of the merchants connect-
ing the coal trade with their business, turned it to
some account; but still down to 1840 the coal busi-
ness in Plymouth could by no means be regarded
a success. And with the exception of the Messrs.
Smith, nearly all of the men engaged in the trade at
its commencement, or immediately after, met with
disasters.
The Smiths pursued the business steadily, with
great economy and energy of purpose. These qualities,
combined Avith the knowledge which they had gleaned
from long experience, enabled them to live merely,
but not to accumulate money. They held on to their
FREE BI AN THOMAS.
GREAT KEI) ASII VEIN. 327
mines, which in subsequent years became very vahia-
able. The Messrs. Smith w^orked what is known as
the great red ash seam, and which is thicker and the
coal of a much, better quality than the same seam on
the east side of the river. On the east side of the
river this seam crops out near the summit of the
¥/'ilkes-Barre mountain, and is not exceeding eight
feet in thickness, while at the Smith mines, Avondale
and Grand Tunnel, it averages twenty-six feet of pure
coal. During the entire period that the Messrs.
Smith worked this vein, some twenty years, and their
successors a quarter of a century after them, the
whole space cleared out has not reached ten acres.
Modern mining and modem facilities of transpor-
tation to market, and the demand are, of course, mak-
ing deep inroads upon the red ash vein, and it is dif-
ficult to anticipate what the next quarter of a cen-
tury will have produced in the extent of mining in
this very valuable coal seam.
It is the underlying seam of the coal measures of
the valley, and on the west side of the river by far
the most valuable, because the largest. The John
Smith part of the old mine is now owned by Mrs.
William C. Keynolds, his daughter, and the Abijah
Smith partjby his sons and the writ^^r of this notice,
and both under lease to Messrs. Broderick, Conygham
and Walter.
Among the later coal men, I must not omit the
name of Freeman Thomas. He came to Plymouth,
3-^ lUSTOUlOAL S-^KKTOHKS OF ri.Y MOUTH.
t\\Mu "Nov(U;\u\ptvMi ooiiuty, abovit tho yoar 1811. IIo
purohasod tho Awnulalo pivpevtv. Ho g!UO it that
nanio llt'tv voai-s ^iuoo. But whou tho old tarmeroini-
fenvil upon it this poetical eoguomon, he was not
a^Yntv of tho Y'jist minora! tivasuiv >Yhioh its siti-taee
coiuvahHl.
Mr. Thomas was in ad\-;iuee of most of his noigh-
lK>rs iu his knowkxlgv of iwvl measures. At tui etwly
day ho ooimiioiuvd driving" the " Grattd Tunnel '" into
the mountain side, with tho purpose of strikii^g the
e<.-«^vl. This was probably as eai'ly as ISilS. This was
the lirst experiment of tunneling in the Wyoming
\-i\lley thivugh r<.>ek. Ho laboivd on very assidu-
ously for several yeai^ hefoiv the objeet \v^\s aoeom-
plished. His neiglilx>rs ivg^\rded the enterprise as
Utopian, but amidst all ol>staele^, and ag-jiinst the
oonnsel and adviee of his friends to alwndon tho tun-
nel, he move^l steadily and pemstently on; and alter
thrt?e or four yeai^ of persevering labor, and with his
oiwlit almost sunk, he strnok the big iwl a$h ^-ein.
This experiment ostablishovl a new theory, new at
least in this valley. And the " Irnmd Tunnel.** as
ite esonstructor named it, will long l>e ivmembered as
one of the most expensive etforts of the early daY-s of
the eot\l pioneers, as also a motnmient to eommomiv-
rate the name of the man Yvhose sag-aoity and foiv-
gdght were ^ in ad\-anee of his contemporaries. In
the toiling years which ho dovoteil to the excavation
of the tunnel, ho constantly encountoiVvi tho opposi-
FREEMAN TIfOMAH. 329
tiori of hi.s fricndH; and many of ilicjn i'n'iWti'^; In ar-
/;;uin(;fji to of>nvJnoo hifii of wl);i,t ilj'-,y callo'J Jjih Mir-
ror, \v<m\(\ liiw^h at and dfuido him, as the Jast njoann
of driving' him from hiw fixed and determined purpose.
But to all this he meekly Hohmitted, Htill holding on
to his own eonvietions, and firuiJIy proved to thern aJl
that the error was with thern and not with himself.
Freeman Thomas lived to a good old age. He died
in 1847, at his home in Northumberland county, in
his eighty-eighth year. He left the valley for his
ni:w residence some ten years since. His children are
still the owners of the "Grand Tunnel" property,
and they also own an undivided interest in Avondale.
Not long after the construellon of the " Grand
Tunnel/' Jameson Harvey discovered coal upon his
premises near by. And these two coal properties be-
ing most eligible to the canal, were more extensively
worked than any other mines in tlie township. Wil-
liam L. Lance became the lessee of the " Grand Tun-
nel " property in the year IS^l. He carried on tPre
business of mining and transporting coal from this
mine for several years, and became otherwise very
largely engaged in the trade.
But although I did not commence my sketches of
Plymouth with a view of speaking of its present
prosperity, and the vast business that is now done in
coal operations, I must mention the fact that proba-
bly six thousand tons are now daily mined, prepared
and shipped to market.
330 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
There is not in the whole coal field of the valley
as mnch merchantable coal embraced in the same
area as there is within the region of " Old Shawnee."
It is a favored spot in the great basin; and the fact
that every acre within the measures will readily find
sale at a thousand dollars, is conclusive proof of the
allegation.
When we compare the present trade (October,
1871), with the business in 1812, it strikes us with
surprise. There are now in Plymouth fifteen break-
ers in active operation, yielding an aggregate of si's:
thousand tons a day, and producing annually a mil-
lion and a half of tons. The probability is, from
present prospects, that this will be increased to two
millions in the course of a couple of years, and the
increase of production has not exceeded the increase
of values. Coal lands upon the mountain side fifty
years since were considered of no account. While it
was manifest that coal was present in large quantities,
the fact of there being but a small demand, and no
facilities of transportation, made the article a drug;
and any one would have been deemed the fit subject
for a mad-house and a straight-jacket who would have
predicted the coal trade of Plymouth in 1871, at a
million and a half of tons annually. The results
have exceeded the anticipations of the most sanguine;
and were Freeman Thomas alive at this day, he would
find his air-built castles of forty years since more
than reality. Men would laugh at his predictions,
FREEMAN THOMAS. 331
" that the man with a beard on his face/' when he
made them, " would live to see fifty thousand tons of
coal shipped yearly from the Plymouth basin ! " If
the old gentleman had said fifty thousand weekly,
ho would have approached more nearly the result.
But his estimate of " fifty thousand tons yearly," lost
him the confidence of his neighbors, and they con-
cluded, and so whispered among themselves, that
"the man's mind was waning, and that it was a pity
it was so."
The men who condemned the sagacity and fore-
sight of Freeman Thomas, lived, many of them, to see
the most extravagant of his speculations far exceeded
by the results. He was a man of much reflection,
and he made the coal measures his study; and while
by his expenditures he encumbered his estate, he
lived to realize the fact that all his theories had
become fixed realities, and he could well afford, there-
fore, in the day of his prosperity, to retort upon those
who had suggested that his mind was " waning " and
his judgment was at fault.
Mr. Thomas was a man of placid and even tem-
per, kind, hospitable, and generous to a fault. The
likeness we present of him was taken at seventy-one,
and while not so perfect as it should be, still shows
the resemblance and features of the man.
I made every effort to procure a likeness of Abijah
Smith, but he died before photographing became a
science, and there is no painting representing him to
332 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
be had. It would have been exceedingly gratifying,
if the face of this man, who was pre-eminently, the
pioneer in the coal trade, could have been preserved
to us.
That a member of his family should be placed in
my gallery, I thought proper : and therefore I pro-
cured the consent of his son, John B. Smith, and who
very much resembles his father, to consent that I
might introduce his photographic likeness.
CHAPTEE XYI.
EA.RLY PHYSICIANS — MORSE, MOREL AND, CHAMBERLIN,
GAYLORD.
THE first settlers of the town did not require the
attendance of the doctor as frequently as their
descendants. They were but little accustomed to
that luxurious course of life which is pretty sure to be
followed by severe pains and penalties. They lived
upon plain fare, and their hours of labor and rest
were regular: — they therefore did not have much
occasion for medicine. Every garret was an herba-
rium in itself, and carefully supplied with medicinal
plants and roots — catnip, balsam, elderberries, penny-
royal, hemlock; and the whole family of roots and
herbs were methodically arranged, tied up in bunches,
and suspended from the rafters, and the matron of
JOHN B. S BI I T H.
DR. WILLIAM HOOKER SMITH. 333
the establighment pretty well understood how to pre-
pare, apply, and administer them. It was a part of
her education, and she took pride in this branch of
knowledge. Apothecary shops did not, in those days,
occupy the corner of every cross-road. The conse-
quence was, that under this system, health was the
general rule, and disease the incident. Modern cus-
tom and habit have reversed it.
Dr. William Hooker Smith, though not a resident
of the town, was the earliest practitioner of medicine
in it. He was the only physician of note of the
whole valley, in the first settlement of Westmore-
land; and the limits of his circuit extended through-
out its broad territory. He has left behind him the
fame and renown of a most skilful surgeon and able
physician. The old settlers of the valley were all
accustomed to speak of this man with great respect.
He was, undoubtedly, a man of learning in his pro-
fession, and entertained the public confidence to a
wonderful degree. With such a man within a rea-
sonable distance, there was but little occasion for
local doctors.
I do not learn that until in the beginning of the
century, that Plymouth had an established resident
physician. My own memory and observation go back
nearly sixty years : at that time the physician was Dr.
Anna Morse, a stout, waddling old lady of two hun-
dred pounds avoirdupois, with a green medicine bag
pendant from her girdle, on one side, and the keys of
334 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF TLYMOUTH.
the tap-room on the otlier. This was tlie Siuuo lady
known as Mrs. Heath, of early times, and Avho was
permitted to leave her house stand within the boun-
daries of '• the eommoutield," provided that she put
a fence ahout it. The house is still standing in jux-
taposition with the old rough harked elm, upon Ant
Hill, a sketch of which appears in the back-ground
of the elm-tree photograph, and a modern coal-breaker
on the right of the picture. It may possibly have
boon enlarged since the time of holding " y* meeting
on y*" twenty-fourth March, 17St>," at which Colonel
John Franklin appeared as moderator, and Jonah
Eogers, "dark." But the old two-story double
frame house, was an old house when I tirst knew it,
and Mi-s. Doctor Moi-se was then the tenant and owner.
Her tii-st husband was Thomas Heath, the '* town
key-keeper,'* and grand juror, elected at the town
meeting of Westmoreland, held "y^ second March,
1774," and but live years after the first settlement of
the town.
At the time I speak of, Anna Morse, as an M. D.,
she had survived her second husband, and the old
double-framed house was a licensed tavern. Before
it creaked, on rusty hinges, a capacious sign-boaixl, oix
which were painted in bold characters: — "Entertain-
ment for Man and Horse! " The north-east room, or
the iii-st floor, contained the chest of drawers whereii
were deposited the mysterious cures for all diseases.
I have an occasion to remember the treatment of
W
DR. MORSE. 335
Dr. Morse; for when a child I was a patient of hers,
and I distinctly reiiKnnlx'r listening to the conversa-
tion upon her iirst visit, when the question was dis-
cussed, in a low voice, whether the prescription should
bo "a hemlock sweat, or a dose of calomel and
jallop." These were her invariahle prescrij)tions,
both for old and young, as well as for all diseases.
The scale of occult science (to me at least), prepon-
derated in favor of calomel and jallop; and holding
in remembrance the nauseating taste, I have never
been able to be reconciled to the appearance of a
green bag, for from one of this kind the dose was
taken. As a member of the bar, I never carried one.
I could not abide it.
Dr. Morse continued on for several years in the
double capacity of the healing art, and vending liquor
by the gill and half-gill. In these times liquor was
bought by the measure ; the bottle was never set
before the customer, to drink according to his pleas-
ure. In fact the old custom of selling by the gill and
half-gill was not abrogated till within the last forty
years. A bold landlord was he, who first introduced
the habit of placing a full decanter before his cus-
tomer.
After the decease of Mrs. Morse, Dr. Moreland, an
old gentleman, resided a couple of years or so, in the
town. This was proljably about the years 1814 and
1815. He left, and was succeeded by Dr. Ebenezer
Chamberlin, in the year 1816. He was born in
21
336 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLTJlOrXH.
Bwanzer, Cheshire oountv, New Hampshire, Decem-
ber first ITiX^, and was the x>raotising physioian of
the town, from the time of his immigration to his
death, which oocun-ed Apil tweltth. lSt)6.
An elibrt upon my part to give a bic^raphicai
sketch of the doctor* I fear, will be abortive; and
yet, pn>bably, no one has more of the material at
hand with which to do it.
He was a man of gvxni common sense: but his pro-
pensity to turn everything which he touched into rid-
iculej was a governiii^ passion. As a physician, he
was careful and prudent : and his long practice, united
wirh his obser's'aTion of the numerous cases which tVU
into his hands> made him ordinarily proficient. He
might be dassevl as a very respectable physician: he
made no pretensions to surgery. A redeeming feature
of the man was his perteot wilUngness to listen to the
counsel and advice of a consulting brother: a some-
what rare virtue with the cral\ generally.
He was an eccentric man, and the fund of his an-
ecdote was inexhaustible. The greater part of his
abundant stock, and alAvays on hand ready for de-
livery, will not bear repetition. He was not remark-
ably choice in his selections. He was an original,
and I have never met with an individual who so
thoroughly blended sense and nonsense together; and
yet there was a vein of cleverness throughout his con-
versation. Before you reached the point of condemn-
ing an out-of-place expression, he would convulse you
DOCTOR OHAMBERLIN. 337
with laughter witli an unexpected hit, the cmhodi-
ment of wit and sarcasm.
As ]i(3 waH for fifty years tlie town })}iyBician, and
known to everybody, great and BUiall in it, it will
not, I hope, be amiBS to write out a few personalities
of tliis unusual character.
It was during the time tliat Cliarles 0. Curtis
kept the puljlic scliool in tlieold Academy, that a Sat-
urday afternoon would be occasionally assigned for
what was called a "manners school." On these occa-
sions the friends and patrons of tli(; scliool would be
invited to participate: tjjere would be hjctiires on
j)roper and l^eeoining behavior — suggestions as to
polite conduct, and now and then there would be short
dramatic entertainments and colloquies — all having in
view the lesson of civility and gentlemanly and
womanly deportment.
To give an impression of the clown, he must needs
be exhibited. And this part was always assigned to
the doctor. Without him the r(jle would have been
incomplete, and he acted it out to life.
His grimaces, and blunders, and vulgar attitudes,
actions and expressions, were life-like models, and the
then, young doctor would bring down the hearty ap-
plause of the house.
His observation of men and things was scrutiniz-
ing, and his conclusions were correct, but he had an
odd way of illustration.
Having in a measure lost the run of affairs in my
3SS lUSTOKlOAl. SKKTOHF.S OF ri.\ MOUTH,
native town, mooting- the doctor, I ini^nirod of him
how matt 01"^ woiv pivgiv^^ing thoiv ? ** Prog'iV5?j>ing,"
he repUe<h *' 1 nyiU toll von how thing's aiv progivss-
ing\ Only a tow yeai"S ago, Calvin W adhams, Bon-
jamin KeynoUU and Joseph Wright woiv hoots on
Sundays ; and now only think of it, the Kumseys wear
lxH)ts every day in the week ! "
A few years after he eame to the town, he Kvame
religious and joined one of the chuivhes. I was upon
the hank of the stream at his immei-sion. He had a
dispute with the minister (Elder Rog-ei"S, I think it
^^•Jls>, while in the \>t^ter, about the neeessitry depth
wheiv the Si^orament should be performed. It wi\s
finally eomprv>misevl at " a depth of \Miter reaching
the lowest button on his vest." At the conclusion of
the ceremony, as he came dripping out of the stream,
with a strv.n\g shake of the shoulders, he repeated in a
loud voice, " This is glory enough for one day."
I am obligwl to say, however, that he did not
make a shining light in the chuivh.
To illustrate this ruling passion which he had of
the ludiervms, when upon his death bed, he was asked
the (][uestion, " how he Mt with the approach of death
so near at hand ?'* He ivplicd, " that he was entirely
contented. That since his sickness Ivg-an, and which
would prv^bably be his last, he had carefully reviewed
the whole subject of the past, and carefully contem-
plating the future, the result of his conclusion was,
that he had liveil over fortv vears of his life in Shaw-
l>Of"l'OK (MlAMIiKIUJM. 339
n<'/',, UH(] liiu] f)iiHH<!(J lJii'oii;j1i 1,1)'; loijK iiiri'; in;i,nriilly^
and Ik; vviiH now iif'ipitrcd I'of Uk; wochI,; I>ii1 'li'l not
anticipate, tliat under any Ktii,t(; of circuniHtiinccH, Ijo
couhJ \)(i placfid in a rnon; linfavorable f)OHition !"
j'lit wliih; tlic doctor iiad a rouj^li <;xtr;rior, ;i,n'J
would make encrnioH by tho wovcrity of liin criticiHms
and remarks, he wan a kind-hoaricd, j^ofieroiiH man,
and the last one in tlie world to (jntertain or eaiine a
feeling.'; of malevolence. At the cost, however, of re-
laxing the bonds of friendnhip, he conid not refrain
from the p(;rpetration of a joke. JIIh gibes, Ijowever,
were entirely liarrrdess, and witli those who knew liiia
well^ tlj(;y were always forgiven.
He was commissioner of the county for three years,
and held for a long time tlie commiBsion of Justice of
the Peace. lie never possessed the faculty of accu-
mulating projjerty, and the conftequence was that he
died poor; but there was no citizen of Plymouth who
did not feel that in Dr. Chamberlin's death, there
passed from the stage a man of generous impulses,
and one who would not knowingly do a wrong.
Dr. Charles E. Gaylord, fixther of the worthy gen-
tleman of that name, still residing in the town, and in
the enjoyment of a liberal fortune, the result of his
own careful industry, can hardly be classed among
the jjhysicians of the town.
Dr. Gaylord was an eminent pliysician. He was
the Bon of one of the original " Forty " who first
planted the advanced standard of civilization on the
340 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FLYMOUTH.
"wilderneus frontier, in 176S. And there were none of
tliat g-allanr and persevering band who sutfered more
in tlie toils, and exposures, and battles, than this
family. Three of them wei^e in Captain Eansom's
company, in the Kevolntionary war, and another fell
in the Wyoming massacre.
The lather of Dr. Gaylord g-ave him a liberal
course of study, and he graduated at an early day, in
one of the medical colleges of Connecticut. He set-
tled in HuiiTingtou, in tIus county, where he spent a
long life in a laborious practice. He had an excellent
reputation as a physician and sm-geon. In the latter
pait of his life he came to Plymouth, and resided
with his son to the time of his death, which was on
the fourth day of February, 1839. While resident in
Plymouth, he would occasionally be called on, in cases
of consultation. He did not, however, pretend to
practice to any extent in Plymouth. I remember him
well, but at a time when he had become debihtated
by the infirmities of age. He was a man very highly
respected for his social virtues, and lived to a good
old age.
Dr. Charles E. G-aylord was one of the ablest phy-
sicians of the territory of old Westmoreland.
It was common to see the physicians of the ad-
joining towns, in Plymouth, upon professional calls,
forty years since. Doctors Baldwin, Whitney, Crary,
Covels — lather and son : Atkins, Chrissey, J. J.
Wright, Miner, Jones, all distinguished men: and all
RESIDENCE OF HENDERSON GAYLORD.
EARLY PREACHERS. 341
save Dr. Wriglit, wlio is now tlie oldest surgeon in
commission of the United States army, have paid the
great, last debt of nature, and their names even have
almost become forgotten.
CHAPTER XVII.
EARLY PREACHERS — ROGERS, LEWIS, LANE, PEARCE,
PECK.
HAVING already spoken of Noah Wadhams and
Benjamin Bidlack, the two pioneers of the
gospel of the town, I come now to the consideration
of the state of the church, the different creeds, and
the men who respectively supported them, after the
conclusion of the two wars through which our people
had passed.
Before the erection of the old Academy, the sec-
ond floor of which was dedicated exclusively to reli-
gious meetings, and a common place of worship for all
religious sects, services were conducted in private dwell-
ings, school-houses, and sometimes in barns. The old
stone-house in the lower part of the town, now occu-
pied by Mrs. French, but in early days by the Cole-
mans and the Hodges, was a very frequent place of
meeting. Tradition informs us that Mr. Bidlack and
Anning Owen, preached in this house very frequently.
Both of these men were preachers of the Methodist
o42 niSTOKlOAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
faith. Xoah Wadluims would hold his meetings at
his own house on the l\\ek road, and in the sehool-
house upon " the Commontield." He Avas a Congiv-
gatioualist. and pivvious to ISOO, this order of pe*,>ple
Avas lai-gely in the aseendant, in point of numbers.
Kot fer from this time, Elder Joel Eogers, bix^ther
to Jonah, who has been fi>.\|uently mentioned in our
rt^miniseenees of the town, hoisted the Baptist flag,
and continued for many years to act in the capacity
of a preacher. He was joined by Elder Griffin Lewis
a few yeai-s later.
]Mr. Lewis residcvl in that pirt of Plymouth now
called Jackson. These two men were at the head of
the Baptist p\rt of the population. They were both
excellent and exempla y men ; and while neither of
them could claim any pretensions to what is calhxi
pulpit oi-atory, they nevertheless might be classed as
solid, sensible men, and preached solid, sensible doc-
trines.
When I lirst knew them, they were both past
middle age. They wer^ of the old school of divines,
who wer^ governed by the idea that the sanctity of
their lives, their exemplary conduct, their weekly dis-
courses, and the importance of their mission, furnish-
ed a sufficient guarantee of success. ri\->gress in
church, however, as well as in state, was steadily weav-
ing a web of a ditferent texture. The agitating poli-
cy wliich had uptmned the foimdations of a govern-
ment, was not limited to temporal affiurs alone. The
THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS, 343
8|)Irit of the country was becoming changed: old cus-
toms were giving place to new ones; — and in the spir-
itual field, if the multitude would not come to the
sanctuary, for religious instruction, the doctrines of
the church must he carried to the hearth-stone and
domicile of the indifferent and the heedless.
The Revolutionary ideas brought into the field a
new class of competitors. Under the banner of Meth-
odisnj, they were literally scouring the highways and
hy-ways, the lanes and alleys, and forcing the doc-
trines of the cross upon men who might have heard
of the Christian religion, but to whom its necessities
were a sealed book. This system of persevering labor
and untiring energy was a controlling element of the
l^rimitive Methodists, and the old system of manag-
ing and conducting sj^iritual affairs must needs yield
to the new order of things,in the hands of young and
determined men.
The matter may be pretty well illustrated by the
comparison of the speed of the old stage-coach with
the locomotive — Napoleon with the Bourbons and the
old dynasties of Europe.
The Methodist clergy were generally young, ath-
letic and vigorous men. They had the power of en-
dm-ance. They devoted their whole time to their
calling, week days as well as Sundays. They trav-
elled upon horseback in sunshine and storm; their
clothing, which was not much, to be sure, they car-
ried in their portmanteaus; and if they could not
344 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
get enoiigli food to allay tlieir appetites wliere niglit
overtook them, they went hungry. Like the crusader
of the Thirteenth Century, with staff in hand, his
eyes fixed on the Holy Sepulchre, and his mind chafed
to fury at the wrongs of the infidel Saracen ; on they
went, over bog and mire, over mountains accessible
by a bridle-path only, and over streams without
bridges; through snows and hurricanes, despising all
obstacles and disregarding all perils, so that they
planted their flag upon the embattled walls of the
enemy's castle.
They were types literally of the Apostles, and
whose acts they strove to imitate; and therefore they
moved on, having "no scrip, no bread, no money in
their purse." Devoted and self-sacrificing, they
would do a thousand times more severe labor for a
yearly compensation of fifty dollars, than men like
Beecher and Frothingham, of the present day, with a
salary of twenty thousand. With a firm grasp on
the handles of their big subsoil, spiritual plow,
they plunged through roots and stumps and rocks,
through quicksands and hard-pan. They prepared
and sowed the field, and laughed and rejoiced at its
product of an " hundred-fold."
With the manifestation of all this zeal and de-
termined progress, there would be, of course, now
and then an act of indiscretion.
At a quarterly meeting, held in the old Academy,
somewhere about fifty years ago, one of the preach-
EARLY METHODIST CLERGY. 345
ers declared from the pulpit^ " that on the death of a
Plymouth sinner, Satan would hold a grand jubilee,
and throw wide open the gates of his dominion, and
exclaim, at the top of his voice, ' clear the way, re-
joice now, brethren, for here comes one of my be-
loved subjects from Shawnee.' "
I shall not repeat the name of the author of this
threat; he was a venerable man, and in years after
he died full of honors, and left a name of renown
throughout the valley. To this language some of the
people took umbrage; but they were mostly of the
class who were down upon the men who were daily
thinning the ranks of their wayward associates. The
liberal, sensible part of the community concluded
that religious zeal was entitled to a clever margin;
and like sensible men came down to the stubborn
fact, that there was no more severity of punishment
for a " Shawnee sinner " than for a sinner of any
other locality. The doggerel rhymes, therefore, which
the expression provoked, and which were designed to
slap the Methodist church full in the face, did not
long sm'vive ; and a twelvemonth cleared up the
murky spiritual atmosphere.
The activity and energy displayed by this class of
men, formed and fashioned anew the habits and dis-
position of the people. The man driven to his house
from felling the forest trees, preparatory for his new
ground crop, by severe cold, or heat, or storm, peering
through his window at the Methodist minister, in his
346 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
white hat and blue surtout coat, galloping ahead upon
his horse, would conclude that he also was alike able to
resist the elements, and would resume his labor. In
this way men became accustomed to walk faster, talk
faster, decide quicker, and work harder; and many has
been the rough field whose ledges, inequalities and
declivities would not have been reclaimed and culti-
vated for years but for the go-ahead example of the
man in the white hat and blue surtout. His zeal
gave a new impulse in temporal, as well as spiritual
matters.
Under these influences the old Congregational es-
tablishment soon gave way. It could no more stand
up against them, than the French squares at Water-
loo, could resist the dashing charges of the Scotch
Highlanders. The Baptists contested the ground,
and while they maintained a respectable position
in point of numbers, they were nevertheless far
behind the Methodists. Several years later the
Christian church attained a foothold in the town,
which it still maintains, and has a very respectable
congregation. The Baptist church finally became
nearly extinguished, until more recently renewed by
the Welsh immigration into the town.
Of the earlier Methodist preachers, some of them
were of decided talents. Without disparagement
to others, I name particularly George Lane, Mar-
maduke Pearce, and Dr. George Peck, with each
of whom I was well acquainted, and who were on the
REV. GEORGE LANE.
GEOKGE LANE. 347
Plymouth circuit before I removed from the town to
Wilkes-Barre, which was in 1824.
Mr. Lane was assigned to what was known as the
Wyoming circuit, in the year 1809. This included
Plymouth. Gideon Draper, a man of whom the peo-
ple of early times spoke in the highest praise, and
who was reputed as an orator of unusual power, was
associated with him as presiding elder.
Mr. Lane was a stout, thick-set, firmly-built man,
of medium height, blue eyes, and fair complexion.
He possesssd a well-disciplined mind ; his ideas were
expressed in forcible language, and when warmed up
with the excitement produced by his subject, he would
deeply enlist the feelings of his audience. His meth-
od and manner were both agreeable and pleasant, and
his argument was always the result of careful thought
and, apparently, laborious research. His mind was
thoroughly disciplined, and he possessed many of the
elements of genuine oratory. He married a daughter
of Ehsha Harvey, and as has already been stated,
was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Plymouth and
"Wilkes-Barre. The occupation, however, did not
comport with his ideas of his duty, and after a few
years he abandoned it and returned to his church, in
the service of which he ended his days. He ever
maintained a high standing among his people, and
for many years was entrusted with the management
of their large " Book Concern," located in New York;
a position not merely of responsibility, in a financial
348 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
point of view, but also requiring literary qualifica-
tions.
As ]\Ir. Lane was many years a resident of our
town, and married tliere, he may be considered a Ply-
moutli man. He died in Wilkes-Barre, in the year
1858. Two of his sons survive him — Harvey B.
Lane, a merchant of New York, and Charles A Lane,
a citizen of Wilkes-Barre.
Marmaduke Pearce, father of the author of the
" Annals of Luzerne," and the present postmaster of
the city of Wilkes-Barre, came on to the Plymouth
circuit in 1815. He was continued in the capacity
of presiding elder and preacher, on that circuit, for
some eight or ten years. He was an immense man,
physically; about six feet in height, and weighing,
in ordinary health, three hundred pounds. He had
a well-developed head, fair complexion, and .gray
eyes. He was born in Chester county, in this state,
August eighteenth, 1776 — his father's farm and resi-
dence being upon the famous Paoli battle-ground, of
revolutionary fame. A brother of Mr. Pearce — Crom-
well — was Colonel of the sixteenth U. S. Infantry in
the war of 1812, and was in some of the engagements
on the Canadian frontier.
As a preacher, Mr. Pearce was the embodiment
of sound common sense. Reason and logic were the
weapons which he employed. His sermons did not
generally exceed thirty minutes, but in that period,
by reason of his unusual powers of condensation, he
DE, GEOEGE PECK. 349
would say as much as most men in double that time.
He seldom became excited, but in a cool and delib-
erate manner, would hold his audience at his will ;
because his sermons were the product of a strong in-
tellect, abounding in the illustrations of practical life,
plain and sound, but devoid of what is commonly un-
derstood, as oratorical flourish. He died at Berwick,
Columbia county, Pa., in 1852, in his seventy-sixth
year.
Dr. George Peck, a venerable man, still living,
and still in the service of his church, in which he has
been an exemplary ornament and shining light for
more than half a century, made his debut in the old
Academy of Plymouth, in 1818. I say debut, but
probal)ly this may not have been the theatre of his
first efforts, but however, not far from the first. He
was frequently after that assigned to the Wyoming
circuit, in the capacity of presiding elder and preacher,
and having married his wife in Kingston, an adjoin-
ing town, we may almost claim him as a Plymouth
man. He preached there, at different times, through
a term of several years.
I have a distinct and vivid recollection of the man
from the commencement of his ministry in Plymouth.
Of a tall and commanding figure, a countenance
showing a high order of intelligence, a clear and dis-
tinct utterance, a fine flow of language, with a capac-
ity of analysis, he, of course, would not only attract,
but entertain an audience. The announcement of his
:>:>0 HlSl'OKKWl. SKETCHES OF ri.YMOl'TH.
name, though thou comparatiYoly a youth. >YOuhl al-
Avays bviug out the people.
Ris styU\ at this i-emote period, w*as of the fervid
aud nervous order of oratory. His strmous were ex-
oelUnit speoimeus of this class. I have uot hoard him
of lato voavs: probably ago aud loug praotioo have
touod hiui down.
I rou\ouiKn- now, thougli moiv tlum fifty }'ears
ago, with their cares aud anxieties iutorveuiug, the
s\i"l>$tanee of a soruiou 1 hoard him dolivor in the
old Academy. The text, involved the relation be-
tween paivuT and child: and the irapivssion made
upon my mind, is still fresh and unimpaired. Fivm
memory alone I ara able to repeat the text.
I would like to say more of Dr. Peck, and speak
of him as he deserves: but it is of the memory of
those who have gone that I am writing, and uot of
tiie living.
The biogi-aphy of the living is out of place; for
opinions are restrained, and besides, our motive may
l)e the subjeot of criticism.
At a later period, the Kev. Cyrus Gildei-sleeve,
pastor of the Pivshyterian church, W'ilkes-Banv, and
Doctor James May, of the Episcopal chmvh of the
same place, pivached occasionally in Plymouth.
This extended over a period of probably ten yeai^,
commeneiuir about lS-4.
CHAPTER XVIII.
OLIJ KAMILIKH. 'J'lIK JiJDLACKM.
AMONG the carlicHt of Hjo r]yn)Out}i BolilcrK,
though not of the first, was Captain James Bid-
lack. He came from Windham, Connecticut, with
liis family, in J 777, and Ijtjilt for IjirnKclf a lo;^' Iiouko
on GarriHon Jlill. At Uijk lime ;i,]l ihe rcKidences
were clustered in a grouj) ut this place, and until
after tlie ice-flood of 1784, there were no huildings
elsewhere within the certified lines of the old town-
Bliip, unless on the east side of Koss Hill. Captain
Bidlack had three sons — James, Benjamin and Shu-
bal. James, as has already been stated, comm;inded
the company made up of men from lower Wilkes-
Barre, and was stationed upon Colonel Zebulon But-
ler's right wing at the battle of Wyoming, and being
wounded, was captured and inhunjunly tortured in
the burning flames of Fort Wintermoot. The life of
Benjamin was an eventful one.
After the house of Captain Bidlack was swept
away in the great flood, he erected a small log house
on a lot adjoining the Wright homestead farm, where
he resided for several years, and at the time of his
death. During the time he lived on Grarrison Hill,
March twenty-first, 1779, on returning home from
Wilkes-Barre, he was captured by the Indians, not
far from his house. He and tho. elder Jonah Rogers
22 (351)
352 HISTORICAL SKETCHF.!- OF ri.YMOUTH.
■\Yoro vMi hort^obnok. Upon (ho attaok of tho Tudi;uu<!,
thoy put fipuvs to their horsos. and lu\i;ors n\ado hit*
osseape ; but the s^addU\i;iith of the captain giving
way. ho wa^ tl\roNYt\ from his hoi-so and taken pris-
oner.
The Indians took him to Canada, lu son\e way
ho obtained his roUwso, and in the folhnving antumu
^Ye liud him at the town mooting. Whether his re-
lease A\i\s elVooted hy an exchange, or by other means,
we ai\> not informed. Snbsequent to this period, there
is no furthei' mention of the name of Captain Bid-
hick, nor am I able to ascertain when he died. He
was a man past middle life when he c^\me to the
vaUoy.
His son Benjamin became one of the prominent
and loading men of the township of Westinoivland.
lie enlisted at the commencement of the Kovolutionaiy
war. and served throughout the wntest. His name
does not appear upon the ivUs of Pnrkoo's or Rjvn-
som's companies. He pivlmbly w;\js among tlie vol-
nnteei-^ of AVisnor or Stixmg: — these men wei"^ i"e-
cruiting in Wostmoivland before tlie two independent
companies were raised. He was at Boston when
"Wasliington took chai"g\> of the patriot army to op-
pose denenvl Gage. He was at Taunton on tlie tak-
ing of the Hessians: ho was at Yorktown on the oc-
casion of the sunvnder of Cornwallis, and wi\5 in
AVashington's camp, at Xewburg. when the army
was disbimde^l.
li JC V. BENJAMIN 15 1 D L A C K
BENJAMIN BIDLACK. 353
During the rcnnamito and Yankee conflict, ho
was arrested and lodged in the Sunhury jail. lie
escaped from his prison, under laughable circura-
stances.
He was a reniarkahly good singer. The canap is
a good school to develop this faculty. I had occasion,
frequently, to visit our ru Hilary encampments during
the late rebellion, and it seemed as though almost
every soldier had acquired the capacity of song sing-
ing, and very many of them became very clever in
this particular.
Mr. Bidlack, in the later years of his life, would
dwell with a great deal of satisfaction upon the vocal
music of the men of the Revolutionary army. He liad
assisted in erecting the "Temple of Liberty" at
Newburg, and the singing which he had there listened
to, and in which he had joined, lingered upon his
memory. The great battle had been fought and won,
and many of the soldiers' songs were commemorative
of this event. There was reason for the deep impres-
sion it seems to have made upon hira. In speaking
to a friend of the songs in the " Temple of Liberty,"
he remarked: "I never heard such singing in my life.
Some of the officers from New England were trained
singers, and many of the men could sing well, and
they made the temple ring with sweet and powerful
melody."
In his confinement at the Sunbury jail, his songs
led the people to collect about the grated window of
354 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF rLTMOVTH.
his cell. And in the evening, men, 'women and chil-
dren -wonld gather there to listen to the Yankee's
songs. They dually prevailed npon the jailer to let
the man out, Trho had afforded them so much pleas-
m-e. that they might see him.
And thus many a pleasant evening ivas spent in
mirth, song and laughter. Upon one of these occa-
sions, in singing a song called •• The Swaggering
Man," he told his audience that to give them a
proper appreciation of the character he was represent-
ing, they must give him a cane, and make room for
him. as he could not do his subject justice otherwise.
They furnished him a cane, and cried out, " Grive him
room, make Avay, let him have a fair chance." The
prisoner, after taking a drink, and passing backwards
and forwards several times, acting out the character
of a drunken man, to the infinite amusement of his
audience, and suiting the action to the word, when he
came to the chorus, '* Here goes the old swaggering
man," he bounded from them like a wild deer. Pur-
suit was in vain, '•' the swagg-ering man " was too fleet
of foot and strong of limb for the pack at his heels.
They could not overtake the quarry : and the dawn
of day found him thirty miles trom his prison door;
and before sunset, he rejoined his family in his log
house in Plymouth. For a more particular accoimt
of this incident, I refer the reader to Pr. Pecks
History.
At this jeriod of his life, Mr. Bidlack seems to
EEV. BENJAMIN BIDLACK. o.05
liave Leen addicted to habits of intompcrance. 1'Ijo
army is a poor school for temperance. Many, very
many grains of allowance are to he made i'or tlio
poor soldier, amid the hardships and exposures of the
camp. This vice, however, he had the courage and
decision to cast off, after he had assumed the ranks
of civil life. He reformed, became a religious man,
joined the Methodist church, and devoted the remain-
der of his days to preaching the Gospel. For the last
ten years of his life, he was placed upon the " super-
annuated list," but so long as he was able to travel
the circuit, he labored zealously in the cause.
He was present at the remarkable discussion
among the officers of the army, in Newburg, in 1783,
previous to the disbanding of the troops. It was an
occasion of unusual excitement. The officers and men
had feceived their pay in Continental bills: they were
worthless. They were about to be discharged and
sent to their homes in poverty. Congress had no
money nor credit. The situation became one of fear
and alarm. The celebrated anonymous letters, said to
have been written by General Armstrong, were circu-
lated in the camp. These fanned the flame of dis-
cord, and but for the firm stand taken by Washing-
ton, the probabilities are, that the glorious fruits of
the rebellion would have been destroyed. The con-
duct of this great captain and noble patriot was never
reflected in brighter colors, than upon this memorable
occasion. The name alone of Washinj^ton caused
856 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
the Teteran soldier to lay dovrn his arms: his venoxa-
tion tor his gn^t leader made him submit to want
aud destitution, and tluvgo the rightei^us claims he
had upon his country for his sevi^re labor. These let-
ters wery? drawn with exeetnling ability, and appealing
to the men to take eai>? of themselves Wfore their
arms weiv taken frv^m them, and they dislvindeil. and
sent hungry and naked to their unprovided homes
and helpless families.
In their debates the offieei"S spoke in their uni-
forms, with their sworvls by their sides. On one oc-
casion one of them, laying his hand upon the hilt of
his sworvi, demanded with great vehemence: '^* Gentle-
men, are you pi>?p\revl to give up these swords, which
have promired fiWvlom for the Cv>uutry. and for yoiur-
selves glory and renow n ? Can you retire to your ^urms
or shv>ps. and iugloriously abandon the pix>feissicai of
arms .^ Will you not rather spill your heart's blood
in defence of rights which have been so dearly bought
in the camp and upon the field of battle ?"
But the genius of Washington was equal to the
crisis. It was his noble example and boundless influ-
ence that quieted the storm, and subdued the fearful
and threatening commotion.
The argimients pro and con which were made in
this celebrated council, Mr. Bidlack had tceas^ured up
in his memory, and when the old man would repeat
them, in his deoliniug days, as he was very frequently
in the habit of doing, he would become animated, and
"our WASHINGTON." 357
often eloquently emphaHizing Iuh periods, by Liinging
his staff down upon the ground with force. He
would generally wind up his rehearsal with a benedic-
tion on Wa8]jirjgton. And never was mortal man
worshipped with more sincerity than he hy his soldiers.
I was intimately acquainted with a large number
of these venerable patriots. I attended their meet-
ing, in the court-house in Wilkes-Barre, in 1832,
where they were invited for the purpose of preparing
their pension applications. I made out several of
them. A pension application without the name of
Washington embodied in it, they would look upon
with suspicion. Time and time again I have intro-
duced the name in their pjapers merely as a gratifica-
tion to them. They were never tired of speaking of
" Our Washington," as they endearingly called him;
and they would give him the whole credit of achiev-
ing American Indejjendence, reserving none whatever
to themselves.
A large number of these old veterans met in
Wilkes-Barre on a fourth of July, probably about
1830. There may have been some thirty of them.
The Rev. Benjamin Bidlack was their orator. The old
gi;ntleman was then straight and erect, and moved off
at the head of his column with a firm step and mar-
tial bearing. They marched after the drum and fife
to the old meeting-house upon the square, a large
crowd following after.
The occasion seemed to have invigorated their
358 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
venerable orator. He made a powerful impression
upon his compatriots in arms, as well as upon the
dense mass of spectators. He was a tall man, six
feet in height; he had a bass voice, though well mod-
ulated, and his delivery was graceful, and his manner
earnest. The prevailing feature of this speech was
that the Providence of God marked every feature of
the eventful struggle of the Eevolution, and that
Washington was his viceroy on earth, and the instru-
ment of his will.
His description of the cannonading of the British
fortifications at Yorktown was well drawn, and de-
livered with great effect.
" For fourteen days and nights," said he, " there
was one continual thunder and blaze. At night it
was so light that you could see to pick up a pin. A
white flag was raised from the British breastworks,
and the firing ceased. Cornwallis proposed to leave
the ground with the honors of war, with colors flying,
and to embark his army on the English ships in the
nearest harbor. ' No,' was the answer, and the parley
closed. 'Now,' said Washington, 'give it to them
hotter than ever,' and sure enough the storm of the
battle raged more terribly than ever. They soon came
to terms, and the heart of the war was broken."
Language like this, from the mouth of one of the
actors in the terrible scene, and addressed with all the
fervor and power of youth, to the scarred and hoary
veterans before him, many of them too who had taken
REV. BENJAMIN BIDLACK. 359
a part in the decisive victory, went with a thrill to
the very centre of the heart !
When the old patriot, with hands and eyes eleva-
ted to Heaven, and in his deep, sonorous, and pathetic
voice, invoked the blessings of God upon the spirit of
Washington, and upon the band of noble veterans,
covered with honorable scars, and bent with years of
hard service, assembled before him ; big tears coursed
down the deep furrows of his broad and manly face,
and they wept like children. There was not a dry
eye upon the thousand up-turned faces there present.
The old man's utterance failed him to pronounce
a benediction, and he and his revolutionary comrades
separated in silence and tears.
A feeling of conscious pride flitted over my mind
at the conclusion of that day's business, that old
Shawnee had won the garland of honors in the person
of one of her pioneers. Eloquence and patriotism had
clasped hands, and the people wept for joy.
Mr. Bidlack removed from Plymouth to Kingston,
where he closed his days. He died on the twenty-
seventh of November, 1845, in the eighty-seventh year
of his age. During the last few years of his life he
had become imbecile in mind, and died from the ef-
fects of a cancer upon his nose.
By his second marriage he had one son, Benjamin
A., who was a representative from this district both
in the State and National Legislatures. He was also
appointed, under Polk's administration, to the mis-
SCO HISTORICAL SKETCUKS OF riAMOl'TH.
siou at Bogota, Coutral Aniorioa, whovo ho died iu
1S47.
Shubal. tho ivmaiuiug oi\e ot" the thvoo sous ot'
Captain Jamos Bidlaek, settled iu Saleui. after the
family separated in Plyniouth. Some of his descend-
ants still reside thei^e. Dr. Peek, iu speaking of the
Bidlaeks, says: '* They were a fan\ily of patriots —
were all tall, large-boned, po^YOvt"ul men, and good
soldiei-s."
I have already referrov.1 to the incident of the Bid-
lack mansion having been swept away by the gi-eat
flood, with Benjamin in it. The name in Plymouth
has become extinct, but seventy yeai-s ag\) it was
pixnninent, and stood out in bold ivlief ; it was a part
of the historical feature of many a well-fought bjittle-
field iu the great revolutionary struggle.
GHAPTEK XIX.
OLD FAMU.IFS, 00:jrTI^t'Er KHYNOLPS ^NESBITTS
WADH AMS — P AV KX FOR I'S — V AN -l.OO:S S— PRINGLES
TURNERS ATHERTOiJS OASES LAMEROFX.
I SHALL conclude my historical sketches with a
short biographical notice of a few of the ecu-ly
settles, who \\-ere not so closely connected witli the
trials, suflerings, and exposures, as those who ha^*e
Iven already alluded to. Some of them came to the
n E N J A 51 1 N II !■: y N L D s.
THE REYNOLDS FAMILY. 3C1
valley at a vciy early ])eriod of its settlement, and re-
turned to Connecticut, wliere they remained until
the troubles terminated; others emigrated to the
town several years afterwards. But inasmuch as
some of tliem shared in many of the hardahij)s, and
others were of the principal femilies of the town,
though making their home there at a later period, it
is proper that they be noticed.
The Keynolds lamily may be classed among the
pioneers of the town. David, the ancestor, came
from Litchfield, Connecticut, under the auspices of
the Susquehanna Company, not long after the first
immigi-ation to the town. He was one of the forty
adventurers assigned by the company for Plymouth,
though he did not reach the valley till the year 1770.
This would make the commencement of his residence
two years later than the arrival of the first settlers.
His father — William — came out with him, with the
view of seeing his son located in his new home, and
was in the habit of occasionally visiting his son, and
died while on one of these visits to him, and was
buried in the graveyard upon his son's premises.
David selected the farm now owned by the family,
and upon which stands the Nottingham coal-breaker.
He erected a log house a few rods east of the shaft.
Soon after the commencement of the Pennamite and
Yankee war, his house, with his other buildings, were
destroyed by fire — the work of Indians or his Pen-
namite enemies. He fled with his family to the fort
362 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH,
at Wilkes-Barre, and a short time after, made his
way back to Litchfield. A very fortunate thing for
him, probably, as it may have saved him from the
fate of his friends and neighbors at the Wyoming
massacre.
At the close of the Kevolutionary war, he again
returned to his possessions. But he still found war
raging in the valley. This was about 1784. His
stay was short — as he, with the other settlers under
the Connecticut claim, were driven from the valley
by the order and decree of Patterson, the civil mag-
istrate, (?) under the Pennsylvania authorities, sta-
tioned at Wilkes-Barre. During this exodus, one of
his children was born in the wilderness, between the
, Susquehanna and the Delaware. David did not re-
turn with the fugitives; he continued on his journey
to his father's, in Litchfield.
When the domestic broils had become in a meas-
ure quieted, he came back, erected a house on the
same site now occupied by the family mansion, where
he remained to the time of his death, which occurred
on the eighth of July, 1816.
I have a distinct recollection of the old man,
though I was but eight years of age when he died.
In the last few years of his life, he became totally
blind. From this misfortune he never recovered.
The only members of David's family, within my
recollection, were Benjamin and Joseph. There were
others. Joseph resided for many years, and died, in
REYNOLDS. 363
that part of Plymouth now Jackson. Benjamin
remained upon the homestead farm during his long
and industrious life. He died in 1854^ in the sev-
enty-fourth year of his age. As he was one of the rep-
resentative and substantial men of Plymouth for a
half century or more, it is appropriate that I should
notice him more particularly. He was a stout, square-
built man, five feet eight or ten inches in height,
light brown hair, and dark eyes. Inclined to corpu-
lency, but very active. He had a pleasant and agree-
able manner, and a character for much benevolence.
Fifty years ago, when political excitement ran
high, he and Noah Wadhams and Stephen Van Loon
were the active political men of the town. They
were of the Jefierson school in politics, and strongly
attached to that side of the question. But while
they strongly adhered to their opinions, and were
thoroughly convinced of their correctness, neither of
them permitted their party opinions to affect their
social relations.
Stephen Van Loon was elected sheriff in 1816,
soon after the war, and when political affairs were
conducted with much feeling. The boys even, of
those days, wore the black and tri- colored cockades as
the badges of the Federal and Kepublican parties.
Mr. Reynolds was also elected sheriff of the
county in 1831. I had just been admitted to the
bar, and though a mere novitiate in the law, he did
me the kindness to name me as his legal adviser.
364 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
This was an introduction to the business of the pro-
fession ; it created, upon my part, an attachment to
the man which ended only in his death.
He was a man of great industry; up with the sun
and astir with his men upon the farm, he did not
know what it was to be idle. He was a pleasant and
agreeable man in his intercourse with his neighbors,
and remarkably kind and indulgent to those depend-
ent upon him. He reared a large and highly respect-
able family, and gave all his children a good common
school education. It may be said that Benjamin
Keynolds was one of " the solid men " of old Ply-
mouth. His name was connected with three of the
early mercantile firms of the town. He never gave
the store any part of his time. The premises were
too contracted and cramped for him. His ambition
and pleasure were upon the farm, with an open sky
above him.
He was for many years a justice of the peace for
the town. In those days the justices were appointed
by the Grovernor, and the very best men were selected.
They were appointed for life, or during good behavior.
It was in the times of the old constitution, and in the
days when the office of justice of the peace was hon-
ored, and the incumbent respected. The men hold-
ing the commissions of justice, at the period of which.
I am writing, were as much, or more respected by the
people, than the men of the present day who occupy
the Common Pleas bench; nor do I speak in deroga^
WILLIAM C. REYNOLDS.
REYNOLDS. 365
tion of the character of any of our judges. The days
when Thomas Dyer, Eoswell Wells, Matthias Hol-
lenback, Nathan Beach, Noah Wadhams, Abiel Fel-
lows, Elisha S. Potter, Lawrence Meyers, John Marcy,
and men of that stamp were the keepers of the peace
of the county, the men who formed the type and
character of the times in which they lived. When,
therefore, Benjamin Keynolds was appointed a justice
for life, or during good behavior, it was not a mere
compliment, it meant something; it was a mark of
distinction.
His sons were all thorough business men. One
of them. Honorable William C. Keynolds, amassed a
large fortune. He was a successful merchant, elected
to the Greneral Assembly, and at one time one of the
associate judges of the county. The success of Judge
Keynolds is but an illustration of what can be accom-
plished by a life of industry and perseverance, guided
by a sound mind and discerning judgment. He was
the architect of his own fortune. He began business
with comparatively small means, but as an offset to
this, he was untiring in his efforts, and devoted all
his time to his business. A merchant for the greater
part of his life, and in which occupation he succeeded
well; but his foresight and high character of intellect
led him to make the investment of his spare funds in
coal lands; and the increase of the value of these
lands was the foundation of a large estate.
Judge Keynolds and myself were intimate in early
366 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH,
life. "We went to scliool together^ in the old Acad-
emy, in tlie winter months; and were plow-boys in
the summer, upon Shawnee Flats.
Our fathers' lands adjoined; and many were the
conversations we had, while we would be eating our
frugal meal, at noon, under a tree shade, as to our
future hopes and expectations in life.
In these discussions we came to the conclusion
that some other occupation would be more advan-
tageous to us both. He talked up the store, and I
the bar. And while we carried on this juvenile dia-
logue, there was before us the apparently insurmount-
able obstacle of the means to buy his stock of goods,
and to procure the necessary legal education, on my
part. And well do I remember his manly argument,
though more than half a century has elapsed: " The
WILL IS HALF THE BATTLE, AND DETEEMINED PER-
SEVEEANCE, WITH UPRIGHT, TEMPERATE, MORAL
DEPORTMENT, THE OTHER HALF,"
Apples of gold are contained in this noble sen-
tence. And it is somewhat strange that time found
him in his counting-house, and myself at the bar.
The subject of our colloq[uy, as plow-boys, became a
reality. And his " upright, temperate, moral deport-
ment, and determined perseverance," not merely laid
the foundation, but erected the superstructure of his
fortune.
He was a man of fine social qualities, and the
most kind and indulgent of fathers.
NESBITTS. 367
The photographic likeness of him herein inserted,
is perfect and life-like. To my own mind, a more
correct delineation of features was never transfen-ed
to canvas.
To me, this is a source of much satisfaction; for
when I look ujDon it, there comes back the agreeable
events of long past years; and the consoling reflec-
tion, that the intimacy of our childhood was only sep-
arated by death; and that nothing in the long interim
occurred to mar or interrupt the friendship of many,
many succeeding years. He died in Wilkes-Barre,
where he resided at the time, some three years ago.
Colonel J. Fuller Eeynolds, another, and a man
of ]3robity and excellent business qualifications, still
resides upon the old family homestead. Another
one, Abraham H., is a prominent business man of
Kingston.
NESBITTS.
The Nesbitt family were among the first settlers.
Jamss Nesbitt, the ancestor, immigrated from Con-
necticut in 1769, and was one of the "Forty." His
name appears on the list of settlers of the valley,
made out by Colonel Zebulon Butler, on the twenty-
fourth July, 1769; and also upon a list prej)ared by
Colonel Butler, of the persons in the Fort at Wilkes-
Barre, on the twelfth April, 1770. Both of these
enrolments are still preserved, and are in the hands
of Steuben Jenkins, Esquire.
23
368 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
He made liis " pitch " (the phrase used in those
days to indicate permanent location and settle-
ment) at the foot of Ant Hill, where he resided with
his family during the remainder of his life; and
which was also the residence of his two sons, Abra-
ham and James, during their respective lives after
Mm.
He returned to Connecticut in 1774, on account
-of the Pennamite and Yankee troubles, but came
back to Plymouth in 1777. From this period he
remained on his farm to the time of his decease, July
second, 1792. He was, therefore, a resident of the
town at the time of the Wyoming massacre. He was
in the Wyoming battle, and one of the sm'vivors of
Captain Whittlesey's company.
The proprietors of Shawnee flats, at the com-
mencement of the Eevolution, leased their lands to
an association of the settlers, on condition that they
•would maintain their possessions, and keep the block
house upon Garrison Hill in repair. Among the per-
sons who thus became lessees, is the name of James
Kesbitt. Mr. Miner represents the person as Abra-
ham Nesbitt. This is undoubtedly an error, as he
was at that time a boy only. The associates of Mr.
Nesbitt in this enterprise were, Major Prince Alden,
Alexander and Joseph Jameson, Jonih Eogers, the
elder, Samuel Ayres, Samuel Ransom, and others.
The two Jameson ; were at this time residents of
Hanover; but the troublesome times brought the peo-
NESBITTS. 369
pie together for self-preservation. The Jamesons
were never permanent residents of Plymouth. Major
Prince Alden was a citizen of the town, but for a year
or two only. He was a Hanover man, and the owner
of the very valuable homestead farm of the late Colo-
nel Washington Lee.
The name of James Nesbitt appears in the pro-
ceedings of several of the early town meetings. He
was an officer at a meeting held December sixth, 1779.
On the death of the old gentleman, he divided his
homestead farm between his two sons, Abraham and
James; the latter taking the part of it north of the
back road, and the former that part between the back
road and the river. These brothers resided many
years upon their patrimonial estate. Each of them
reared large families, and were among the representa-
tive men of the town. Abraham died January sec-
ond, 1847, and James, August sixteenth, 1837.
James Nesbitt, Jr., a son of Abraham, was elected
sheriff of the county, upon the expiration of the offi-
cial term of Mr. Reynolds, and was also elected to the
General Assemb y of the State, after retiring from
the sheriffalty. He was a man of unusual business
qualifications, and left a large estate to his son
Abraham, now a resident of Kingston, and his daugh-
ter, late the wife of Samuel Hoyt, Esquire, of the
same place. He resided many years on the eastern
slope of Ross Hill. His dwelling stands near the
railroad bridge that spans the Susquehanna at that
370 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
place. The largest part of this now very yaluable
estate, he inherited in right of his wife, who was the
daughter of Philip Shupp, owner of Shupp's mill of
early days. The farm is still owned by his son and
son-in-law. It is an evidence of their sagacity and
good judgment to have held on to this estate, as the
coal which underUes its surface has now become
exceedingly valuable.
I must relate an incident connected with the pur-
chase of a part of tliis property, for the purpose of
showing the astonishing increase of the value of land,
on account of coal developments, and to which I was
a witness.
A part of the estate of the late James Barnes,
who resided many years en the north-eastern slope of
Eoss Hill, was exposed to public sale — some thirty or
forty acres of woodland, adjoining the Nesbitt farm.
He was a competing bidder for the land at the sale.
This was probably in 1832 or 1S33. As he bid
"seven and a half dollars" an acre, I stepped up
to him and remarked, that I thought him wild in
bidding seven dollars and a half per acre for unculti-
vated woodland. He rephed, '"that the land adjoined
him, and that he could make pasturage of it; that he
.was aware that he was oflering more than its value,
and should not bid any farther." The auctioneer
failing to get another bid, struck it down to Mr. Nes-
bitt, and he thus became the owner of it, and, as I
thought, against his inclination.
THE WADHABIS HOUSE.
WADHAMS, 371
The same land to-day, I presume, could not be
bought at a thousand dollars an acre. Its intrinsic
value exceeds two thousand.
After the expiration of his term, as sheriff, Mr.
Nesbitt remained in Wilkes-Barre, and entered into
mercantile pursuits. He died in that town some
thirty years since.
WADHAMS.
The Eeverend Noah Wadhams, a clergyman of
the Congregational church, and the progenitor of the
Plymouth family, was one of the original " forty " of
the first immigrants. He came from Litchfield, Con-
necticut, in the year 1769. He had previously been
first pastor at the church at New Preston, in that
county — installed in the year 1775. A portion of
this immigration came the year previous, but the
main body of them came in the year 1769. Mr. Wad-
hams was the shepherd of the small flock, which took
up their residence in the wilderness, made more for-
bidding because of the savage people who were in
possession of the valley.
Our Puritan ancestors were thoroughly imbued
with the idea that religion and progress were insepar-
able; that an enterprise which did not have a sprink-
ling of the church about it could not succeed. A
very safe rule, perhaps, and the observance of which
might well be followed upon the part of their descend-
ants, even down to the third generation. When,
372 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
therefore, an expedition was fitted out by the Susque-
hanna Company, with a view of founding a Yankee
town, upon any part of the company's chartered ter-
ritory, the providing of a pastor was considered of as
much importance as that of a physician, or a person
skilled in any of the mechanical branches. Without
a clergyman, the expedition would be incomplete.
And that this personage might not be an incumbrance
upon an infant colony, the company made provision
for his support and maintenance.
Thus, at a meeting of the company, held in 1768,
I find among other things the following entry: — " The
standing committee was directed to procure a pastor,
to accompany the second colony, called the ' first for-
ty,' for carrying on religious worship and services ac-
cording to the best of his ability, in a wilderness
country."
The proceedings further make provision, " that he
shall receive one whole share, or right in the purchase,
and such other encouragements as others are entitled
to have and enjoy." This share amounted to some
three hundred acres, besides the perquisites, which
sometimes accompanied the grant. The company
further required the colonial adventurers to provide
their pastor, when they located upon the promised
land, " with sustenance according to the best of their
ability."
It will be seen, therefore, that there was a condi-
tion precedent attached to every Yankee grant, to sup-
REV. JACOB JOHNSON. 373
port and maintain a religious pastor. And this the
immigrants faithfully executed, as we find in all the
divisions and allotments of land among them, that a
certain part was set off for education and religion.
This was done by the people of all the " seventeen "
towns.
As early as 1762, when John Jenkins and his
band of bold and fearless associates entered the val-
ley and located at Mill Creek, the Kev. William
Marsh accompanied them as pastor. In the autumn
of 1763, Mr. Marsh was one of the number, of which
mention has already been made, who were slain by
the Indians.
The Kev. George Beckwith, Jr., from Lynn,
Massachusetts, came to Wyoming in 1769, as the
successor of Mr. Marsh; he remained a year or two,
and was succeeded by the Kev. Jacob Johnson, of
Grroton, Connecticut. Mr. Johnson was the pastor of
the Wilkes-Barre '' forty " from 1773 to the time of
his death, in 1795 — for nearly a quarter of a century.
Mr. Johnson was a man of strong mind, though pos-
sessed of some eccentricities of character. It is said
that he prepared his grave with his own hands, a year
or two preceding his death, on the rocky eminence on
Bowman's Hill, at the termination of Franklin street,
in Wilkes-Barre. And upon this rocky promontory
still repose the bones of the old Puritan leader, along
with those of his wife — their's being the only graves
of the locality. Some of the descendants of Mr.
374 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FLYMOUTH.
Johnson were men of mark in later years. Ovid F.
Johnson, an eminent lawyer, and at one time Attor-
ner-General of the State, was a srrandson.
Eev. Andrew Gray was the pastor of the Han-
over ••forty." He contimied for many years in that
capacity in Hanover. It Avas under his administra-
tion that the old church was erected on the Hill,
a short distance below the Colonel Inman home-
stead.
When, therefore, preparation was being made to
start the Plymouth colony, on their journey to the
wilderness, it became a necessary part of the pro-
gramme to select a pastor.
The Rer. Noah "\Yadhams was chosen for the pur-
pose, and he accepted. He was at this time, 1769,
forty-three years of age, and had a family of small
children. Leaving his family at home, he embarked
with his flock amid the perils which lay before them,
on the distant shores of the Susquehanna. The
spirit of adventure was a ruling passion with our
ancestors, and it has by no means become extinct
with their descendants.
Mr. "Wadhams was born in Middletown, Connec-
ticut, on the seventeenth of May, 1726. He was a
graduate of the college of Xew Jersey. His diploma,
bearing date the twenty-fifth of September, 1734, is
now in the custody of his great-grandson, Calvin
TTadhams, Esq., counsellor-at-law, of "Wilkes-Barre;
and what is a most singular coincidence, this same
WADHAMS. 375
great-grandson graduated at the Karne university, just
one hundred years after his paternal ancestor.
The old diploma is a venerable looking paper. It
bears the name of Aaron Burr, father of the celebra-
ted man of Kevolutionary fame, as president of the
college. There are also attached the signatures of
the trustees of the college, Jacob Grreen, William
E. Smith, Eichard Treat, John Braynard and John
Pierson. The document is the surviving witness
of three generations, past and gone : a testament
also of the times of George III., and when the jjres-
ent state of New Jersey was one of the colonies of
his realm.
Mr. Wadhams continued his pastoral relations,
interrupted by an occasional visit to his family, in
Litchfield, until the year succeeding the Wyoming
massacre, when he removed them to Plymouth. From
this time to the period of his death, on the twenty-
second of May, 1806, he faithfully pursued his relig-
ious duties; preaching in Plymouth, and in other
parts of the valley. He was a man of very consider-
able talents, having received a liberal education, as
already stated, and as a mark of merit, he had also
conferred upon him, by Yale College, in 1764, the
degree of master of arts.
He left four sons, Ingersoll, Calvin, Noah, and
Moses. They were all too young to have taken any
part in the early and angry strifes of the valley. I
find all their names, however, ujjon the assessment
d/b HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
list of tlie township, returned in 1796. Moses died
of the yeUow fever in 1803.
Calvin and Noah were for many years prominent
business men of the town. The success of the former
was remarkable. At the time of his death, in 1845,
Calvin Wadhams was the man of the largest wealth
in the townsliip; and probably there was not more
than one other citizen of the county^ who possessed
more property than he.
He was a stout, athletic man, as I remember him,
about five feet eight inches in height, dark blue eyes,
and a florid complexion. He possessed an agreeable
presence, and always had a kind expression upon his
lips. I knew him well and intimately, and I don't
remember of ever seeing him angry, or even excited.
He was strictly temperate, very industrious, and lived
in a plain and economical manner.
He possessed a sound judgment, and no man
knew better the value of real estate. All these qual-
ifications, united with good health and a strong con-
stitution, he could not but succeed. He made up his
mind to become rich, and he succeeded. But in his
progress towards the accomplishment of this purpose,
his business relations with the world immediately
about him, and connected with the theatre of his op-
erations, were not marked by acts of oppression; nor
did he avail himself of the opportunity of enforcing
the collection of his debts, and becoming the OAvner
of the property of his debtors at forced judicial sales.
CALVIN WADHAMS.
WADHAMS. 377
He was, in addition to his occupation of farmer,
what would be called, in these' times, a private banker.
He was in the habit of loaning money, and it seemed
to afford him more satisfaction to lend to the poor
than the rich. A plausible story, upon the part of
a man of small means, was pretty generally success-
ful, and such people would procure the loan of money
from Calvin Wadhams, when it would have been out
of the question to have succeeded elsewhere.
Accommodating such people, as a matter of course,
he would be annoyed when the day of payment came;
and to resort to execution was the last remedy he em-
ployed. To avoid this, he would extend the time,
and receive almost any thing under the name of prop-
erty in payment. I question if he ever sold out the
house or home of any one who had become indebted
to him. In this particular, his conduct was remarka-
bly praiseworthy.
But his chief occupation, and the one from which
he derived the most satisfaction, was that of a farmer.
He was a practical farmer too, for he put his own
hand to the plow; and in the later years of his life,
when the infirmities of age had overtaken him, you
might see him in the field superintending the gather-
ing of his harvest. When he became unable to walk
there, he would ride there in his carriage. It had
been his custom so many years to superintend the
work going on upon his farm, that he could not con-
tentedly relinquish it.
378 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
He was kind and indulgent to tlie men in his em-
ployment, and lie would sell them corn upon credit,
when they might have gone further and with less
success.
Living in a frugal way, and with his mind con-
stantly upon his business, he accumulated a large es-
tate. His old homestead farm — and being but a part
of the estate which he left at his death — was recently
sold, by his family, for seven hundred thousand dollars.
As to his habits of frugality and industry, he was
a genuine type of the men of the generation imme-
diately preceding us. Labor, temperance, and econo-
my, in his judgment, proved the true standard of man-
hood, and that made up the rule of his long and pros-
perous life.
He was a religious man, and strongly devoted to
the church of his faith. Born and educated as a
Congregationalist, he left the creed of his ancestors,
and embraced the Wesleyan doctrines. Having done
this, he remained firm and steadfast in that creed to
the end of his life. His home was ever open to the
brethren of the Methodist church. At a quarterly
meeting of these people in Plymouth, he would enter-
tain as many as fifty of them at a time. Nor was
his hospitality confined to the people of his own re-
ligious sect — it was broad and general, and his home
was open to all. He died at a ripe age, and in the
full enjoyment of all his faculties.
But one of his children survived him — the late
SAMUEL WADHAMS.
WADHAMS. 379
Samuel Wadhams, Esq., who inherited the larger
part of his father's estate.
He inherited too, the business qualifications and
the even temper and kind disposition of his fath-
er. Stepping into the occupation of so large an es-
tate, he exhibited great skill and judgment in its
management, and made valuable additions to it.
Samuel Wadhams was a remarkably methodical man
in his business affairs. He understood the detail,
and knew well how to manage and control. He was
probably more cautious than he might have been, in
view of the accumulation of property. But he had
that other and probably more useful qualification,
prudence.
He came to his conclusions with moderation, and
they were generally right. Those who succeeded him
will not have occasion to reflect upon his memory, for
a lack of genuine good sense, as to the mode and man-
ner of managing the large estate, the most of which
he inherited. He was cautious in entering the great
field of speculation which lay before him; he hesitated
at the contraction of debt; he seemed to have been
governed by the idea, that as his fortune was ample,
there was no need upon his part of putting any of
tliat fortune in jeopardy, by grasping with cupidity for
that which might, and still might not, be as advanta-
geous as the theories of speculation pointed out. And
there is not, in this view of the case, any reason to
question the propriety of his conclusions.
380 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
He had enouo-h. Possessino- the cautious and
o o
methodical characteristics of his father, he turned
over the large estate, with the accumulations it had
received, through his careful management, to his chil-
dren; which makes each of them an ample fortune.
He died on the fifteenth of December, 1868, in his
sixty-third year. He died as he had lived, a man of
unblemished integrity; upright in his dealings, and a
worthy Christian member of society.
He left three sons — Elijah C, Calvin, and Moses,
and one daughter, who is the wife of Hon. L. D.
Shoemaker, the representative in Congress from this
district, at this time.
The faces of three members of this family, repre-
senting three generations, accompany the short bio-
graphical sketches I have attempted to draw of them.
Noah, the third son of the pioneer, was one of the
early Justices of the Peace of the county. He was a
graduate of the famous law school of early days, at
Litchfield, under the management of Judge Keeve.
He was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county,
not far from 1800 ; hut the profession did not
seem to have afibrded him any attractions, and he
settled down upon his patrimonial estate in Ply-
mouth, where he spent the remainder of his life. He
was an industrious, upright man. As a justice of the
peace, his decisions seldom found their way to the ap-
pellate court. His knowledge of the law, assisted by
his good common sense, enabled him so to decide, be-
ELIJAH C. WADHAMS.
NOAH WADHAMS. 381
tween the parties before him, that they seldom ap-
pealed.
As an evidence of the way in which the early
people of the town economized their time, the regula-
tions of Esquire Wadhams' court will afford an ex-
cellent illustration. Saturday afternoons were his re-
turn days, as well as the times fixed for the trial of
the cases before him. This gave the magistrate an
opportunity to do a half-day's labor before the open-
ing of the court, and if an unusual amount of business
was on hand, and it became necessary to extend the
session into the night, it was so much gained. But
the adjournment of an unfinished case went over to
the succeeding Saturday. This was the general rule;
there may have been exceptions to it. Noah Wad-
hams was a frank, outspoken man, and one not in-
timately acquainted with him, might have thought
him rude and severely harsh, in his manner. But he
was remarkably sensitive; and while his outward de-
portment carried the semblance of a brusque and
haughty appearance, the heart and disposition of the
man were as docile as a child's. The defendant upon
whom he would pronounce the judgment of the law,
■v\ath the appearance of not merely cold indifference,
but boisterous anger, would find in him the most ac-
cessible person to become his bail, even for stay of
execution. His eyes and tongue were but a poor ex-
ponent of the emotions of his heart.
Probably a purer man, or one who strove harder
382 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OP PLYMOUTH.
to do even and exact justice, in Ms official capacity,
never received or acted under a commission of the
peace. He was a model magistrate, and for many
long years did he enjoy the confidence and respect of
his neighbors.
He was as positive a man in his politics, which were
of the Jefferson school, as his brother Calvin was in
his, which were Washingtonian. No two men were
ever more diametrically ojDposed to each other than
these two brothers, in their political principles. One a
radical Democrat, the other a radical Federalist.
Noah Wadhams died in 1846, in the seventy-sixth
year of his age. His farm was situated between the
river and the back road, and extended from the
Lackawanna and Bloomsburg railroad depot to the
small stream heretofore referred to, and on which now
stand some of the most expensive and best buildings
of the borough. There are now, none of his family
left in Plymouth.
DAVENPORTS.
The Davenports, a very numerous family of the
present day in Plymouth, were among the early set-
tlers of the town, and one of them was of the original
"Forty." I am not able to ascertain the length
of time he remained in Plymouth after his immi-
gration.
The name of Danford is on the original list. The
surname is so obliterated that I cannot decipher a
DAVENPORTS. 383
letter of it. It was undoubtedly Eobert, however,
father of Thomas, who came a few years afterwards.
The name of Davenj)ort and Danford are the same.
The family were known by the latter name many
years since my recollection; and it is so wiitten in
the old deeds of conveyance. The family is of low
Dutch origin, and this may account for the dilferent
manner of spelling the name.
The name of Conrad Davenport is upon the dead
list of the Wyoming battle. I think this man was a
resident of Newport, and a member of Captain Stew-
art's company, and probably of that family of Daven-
ports still residing in Union township, but who are
not related to the Plymouth family.
The Danford whose name appears upon the roll
of the Susquehanna immigrant company, and to
whom was allotted some of the lands still in posses-
sion of the family, came out, most likely, as an ex-
plorer; and, on his return, giving a favorable account
of the new country, his son Thomas succeeded his
father in the Plymouth possessions. Kobert does
not seem to have returned to the valley. It is also
pretty well settled that he was a member of Captain
Whittlesey's company in the battle, and a survivor
of that terrible disaster. Such is the tradition of the
family at the present time, and most likely a correct
one.
Thomas Davenport, the ancestor of the now resi-
dent family, came from Esopus, on the Hudson, state
24
384 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
of New York, in the year 1794. His name is regis-
tered on the assessor's list of 1796, and he was then
the owner of a large landed estate. His name does
not appear on the enrolments of the people of the
town before this period. He died in the year 1812,
leaving a large family — six sons and four daughters.
His sons were Thomas, John, Robert, Samuel, Dan-
iel and Stephen.
A considerable part of the old homestead farm is
still owned by the descendants. In early days the
four Davenport houses, with their long stoops extend-
ing the length of the entire front of each, presented a
unique appearance, compared with the other buildings
of the pioneers. The latter followed Yankee models,
built after the Litchfield houses of Connecticut,
The former were after models of the people of Sir
Hendrick Hudson. This row extended from the
" Swing-gate " to the mountain road, near the Not-
tingham colliery. The residence of the ancestor was
situated about half way between the two points
named.
Two of these ancient buildings still stand; but
they have lost the old ornament of the front stoop,
and they do not have the cheerful appearance they
possessed forty years ago.
From the death of the old gentleman down to the
year 1820, the entire estate remained in common, not-
withstanding three of the sons had residences of their
own, and three of the daughters were married and re-
DAVEiSTPORTS. 385
siding away from the paternal mansion; still, for the
period of eight years, the property remained in com-
mon. A somewhat strange state of affairs, compared
with the present times — for now the earth has scarcely
time to settle down upon the lid of the ancestral
coffin, before the process goes out for carving up and
dividing the ancestral estate.
The Davenports, for the period of time named,
labored in the same field; fed, we may say, from the
same board — as the crib and granary contained the
same common stock of grain — and they were, in fact,
a commune of themselves. The whole machinery
moved without a jar; there was perfect accord.
When they would meet together of an evening, after
the day's labor, upon the old homestead stoop, it
used to be the remark of others, that " Congress had
assembled." And here were discussed, not those in-
triguing and subtle questions which now occupy the
time of a somewhat degenerate body of men, known
by the same name, but the more useful and necessary
and solid questions of life, such as how such a field
should be tilled ? What should be the character of
the succeeding day's employment ? Which of them
should swing the cradle, and which rake and bind ?
How much of the crop should be thrashed and sent to
Easton, and how much put into bins for the year's
supply ? Solid, sensible, and man-like discussions.
And in this way the Davenport congress managed
their affairs. Secret schemes, involving the means of
386 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
living, independent of industry and hard labor, had no
place upon their " private calendar."
And so they went on through years of prosperity,
their names appearing neither on the criminal, or civil
dockets of the courts, of the county, as litigants. The
family for two generations, within the knowledge of
the writer, have been upright, industrious, and active
business men. Of the six sons of old Thomas Daven-
port, Stephen, late Count}'- Commissioner, and now a
resident of Huntington, is the only survivor.
Daniel, as has already been stated, became seri-
ously involved in the coal trade, at an early day, and
lost most of his estate. He was a man of integrity,
of frank and pleasant deportment, and very popular
with the people of the town. His misfortunes in the
coal business enlisted the sympathies of the citizens
deeply, and these troubles were undoubtedly the cause
of his premature death.
He was a representative man of his day; and he
gave employment to, and fed large numbers of labor-
ing men, for those times, and of them all, no one ever
had cause for comjjlaint in his dealings and inter-
course with them. I refer back to this generous and
kind-hearted man with feelings of lively emotion. He
was but three or four years my senior; we were inti-
mate for many years. We occupied the same bench
in Thomas Patterson's school, in the Old Academy;
and when I came to the bar, he was one of my first
and best clients. These reasons make me cling with
DAVENPORTS. 387
great regard to his memory. He left a large family at
his death, as did also Thomas, John and Eobert. In
the division of the estate of their father, each received
a competency.
Jacob Gould and John Pringle, both highly
respectable men, married daughters of the old gen-
tleman. Mrs. Pringle is living; she and Stephen are
the only survivors of the family of ten.
The Davenports were among the substantial busi-
ness men of the town for a great many years. They
were of that class which, above all others, are entitled
to public consideration, because they were devoted to
their own affairs, and were not in the habit of med-
dling with those of others. They faithfully main-
tained their credit, and their lives were marked with
strict economy, industry and fair dealing. The six
sons were all farmers, and they literally were gov-
erned by the sentiment contained in the couplet of
our great American philosopher, Benjamin Franklin,
that —
" He tliat by the plough would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive."
VAN LOONS.
The family of Van Loons also immigrated from
Esopus in the year 1794. There were three broth-
ers — Abraham, Mathias and Nicholas. As the
name indicates, they were of low Dutch origin. I
find them all on the assessment list of 1796. They
came to Plymouth after the valley troubles had ceased
388 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
to exist. Tliey were a family of hard workers, and
were among the active business men of the town.
Abraham, or as he was generally called, Brom, had a
large family of children. His residence stood on the
south side of the Nottingham shaft, at the corner of
the Main and Mountain roads.
Stephen, his eldest son, was elected high sheriff
of the county in the year 1816. He was captain of
the militia of the town in 1814, and mustered the
men of his company into the United States service,
who were drafted from it. He was a man of very
considerable energy, and during the war of 1812 was
a very noted politician of the town. Being of the
democratic party, he was rewarded by it, with the
office of sheriff, as a compensation for his political
services. He discharged the duties of the office faith-
fully. He died February 1840 or 1841.
Samuel Van Loon is a son of Stephen, a man
well known in the county. He was also elected to the
same office in 1859. He was the last of the five
sheriffs of the county selected from Plymouth men.
It is somewhat remarkable that the township of
Plymouth should have held this office a third of
the time, from 1816 to 1859. The county being
large in territory, and the population numerous, Ply-
mouth had more than her share of sheriffs. The
order in which they were elected is as follows :
Stephen Van Loon, Benjamin Reynolds, James Nes-
bitt, Caleb Atherton and Samuel Van Loon.
VAN LOONS. 389
Another feature marks tlie case, whicli is well
worth recording — these gentlemen wei'e all of them
descendants of the first settlers of the town. The
grandfathers of three of them were of the original
" Forty." The ancestors of the two Van Loons
came but a few years later.
John, another son of Abraham, was a man of keen
and sarcastic wit. How many times I have listened,
with others, to the stories of John Van Loon, while
the men of the harvest field were laying under the
shade of the big cherry-tree, on my father's farm, on
Shawnee Flats, taking the " hour's nooning." Like
Shakspeare's Yorick, " he was a fellow of infinite
mirth." He would for a half hour keep the company
in uproarious laughter.
At the risk of being charged with a departure
from the dignified theme of history, I must relate a
specimen of his numerous stories, though I do not
vouch for the truth of it!
He was a pilot of the Susquehanna, and made the
navigating of arks a part of his employment.
At the foot of the Halifax mountain, this side of
Harrisburg, an old man by the name of Hoaklander
kept a way-side inn. The ark and raftsmen Avere
accustomed to stop at this tavern. The house stood
at the base of a very high hill and with a steep
ascent.
As Van Loon related the story: "Hoaklander
had a one horse sled, which he used in transporting
S90 HISTORICAL $XKTCr.::< OV rLTMOCTH.
his fiT>tywc>od trvnu tliis mouuiaiu dde. The haniesss
had Iniok^kiu tra«x^ Ou a thawing spriwg dav iu
Marvh he a;^vttdt\l tho lull with his one horse sled,
put ou his load v>f wood, and started homewarvi, lead-
ing his horse. On arriving at his house at the bot-
tom o>f the hilU he foxmd his sled missing: in a gre«t
fury he jerked otf the hamesSj anvl thr>?w it o\>?r a
stnmp by the way-side, and put his horse in the sta-
ble, vexed Wyond endurance at the r>i«ult of his work.
The weather changed at night, and it became sud-
denly very cold: the eJ^vt of this wus to it?tract the
stretched bucls^in traces;. The old man was awak-
ened by a rumblii^ noise during the night, hke dis-
tant thunder. The s^nmd cvmtinued: he jumped fr»m
his Kxi and went to his dootv when loS in the moon-
%ht he ssaw his sled load of wvxxl preciptately de-
scending the mountain pitch: and to his astonishmeni
it came uj)> to his door with a rush."
Baddy Hoakknder and his buckskin traces would
wvU bear an annual repetition.
John rvn\oved with his :6uaily to rr,e Stale of
Ohio, wher? he died some twenty-five years ago.
Jeitemiah, another brother, rumored to the same
Btate a frw years before John.
Aoijuainted with two generations of this SunilT, it
al^mls me much satisfaction to speak of them all as
men of probity, industry, and congenial social dis-
positions. A str>e<ak of mirthful humor 'was a prevail-
ing characteristic with most of th^oi.
PUINOLKS. 391
TIUN(JI.KH.
TIiiH ("uiiiily were uukjij^ tho cjxrly K(;U.I(;rH. ^I'lifin-
were two hioilKirH — Samuel and JnrncM. I find Uic
iiiiJiic, of Siiiniicl on (Jic, aHHCHHmcnt llwi In I7!)G. lie
owned IJk; fiirrii upon wliicli i'h located tli(; (;laylor(J
coal HhaCt and bniakor. JamoH roHided in what In
now called Jacknon. Samuel raiwed a lar^o family.
His eldest son, ThornaH, married a daughter of Elislia
Harvey. He removed Kfjrrie forty years since to Kings-
ton, where ho died. J lis sons are now among the
best and most enterprising business men oi' that
township. Thomas Pringle was a most exemplary
and upriglit citizen; a prominent member for a good
number of years in thfj Meihodist church, and his
house, to the day of liis death, was a temporary liomo
for the circuit preachers of that religiouH order.
Samuel, the ancestor, died many years since; he
also was a man of good standing, and a worthy and
upright citizen. The old stone farm-house and pleas-
ant surroundings made an inviting spot in old times;
but heaps of culm and stacks of machinery have de-
faced its former appearance; and it is very doubtful
that if the spirit of the old farmer, of early days, were
to return there now, whether he could recognize tlie
locality.
TUENERS.
John Turner, the first settler in the town of the
family of that name, immigrated at an early day; bnt
392 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
he was not of tlie first colony. He came to Plymoutli
about tlie year 1780. His son, the late John Turner,
informed me that his father removed to the to"wn, from
near Hacketstown, Warren county, New Jersey; but I
find in an obituary notice of this gentleman, published
soon after his death, which occurred on the third day
of July last (1871), and apparently prepared with
care, that the family residence originally is fixed at
Bushkill, Northampton county. Pa. I think, how-
ever, that the family were originally from the State
of New Jersey.
The first settler died of an epidemic, which was
remarkably malignant and destructive of life in Ply-
mouth, in the year 1803, and known as the " Fall
Fever; " but in reality a type of yellow fever. A
brother of his also died the same season of the same
disease. Four sons survived him — Emanuel, Daniel,
John and Jonah. Emanuel settled in Huntington;
Daniel in Kingston, both in this county; Jonah at
Hope, Warren county. New Jersey, and John re-
mained upon the homestead farm in Plymouth.
It is of John, who was born in the town in 1787,
and died there as above stated, and resided there dur-
ing his whole life, of whom I shall more particularly
speak.
He was a tall, stout man, with remarkably fair
complexion, and blue eyes, and possessing an agree-
able presence. Like nearly all of the early resi-
dents of the town, he pursued the occupation of a
JOHN TUENER. 393
farmer, though in later years of his life, he opened a
store, and connected this branch of business with coal
operations. Still his chief occupation, and the one
best suited to his tastes and inclinations, was that of
a farmer.
He was a man of abstemious habits, and his whole
life was marked by untiring industry. He was liter-
ally a man of domestic habits; always upon his plan-
tation, and always engaged. He had no idle mo-
ments. Uniform in his politics, and firm in his party
principles, which were of the Jefferson school, he never
however s ught office; and with the exception of hold-
ing the commission of postmaster of the town a few
years, and acting in the capacity of municipal ap-
pointments, his whole life was that of a private cit-
izen.
He was a strong advocate of education, and was
mainly the cause of introducing the teaching of the
dead languages into the Plymouth school. I speak in
this particular from my oAvn knowledge, as upon his
directions I made an engagement with both Mr. Pat-
terson and Mr. Nyce, graduates of Dickinson College,
Pennsylvania, as teachers in the Old Academy.
These gentlemen were principals of the school, tlie
one succeeding the other in the years 1828-1830. I
think, too, that Mr. Turner sustained a much larger
proportion of the expenses of the school, during these
years, than his legal share. He was determined that
the teaching of the languages should be made a part
394 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
of the scliool exercises; and after much difficulty and
pretty serious opposition, he succeeded in carrying his
point. This enabled him to give his children a good
education, and he availed himself of the opportunity.
Two of his sons became thorough business men.
Samuel G. Turner, his second son, was a man of
much energy, and pursuing the occupation of mer-
chant and coal dealer, gathered up a very handsome
estate. He might be classed, at his decease, among
the men of wealth of the county, at a time too when
men were measured by a more liberal standard than
in the days of his father.
He represented the county in both branches of the
State Legislature, and with much credit and ability.
He was the father of the mine ventilating bill, and is
deserving of much praise for his active exertions in
preparing and passing this law. He possessed more
than an ordinary degree of intelligence, and his judg-
ment in real estate was very superior.
He removed to Wilkes-Barre some six years since,
and remained there till his death, which occurred in
the early part of January, 1873. Samuel G. Turner
may be ranked among the most successful men, in a
business way, of the town or of the county. He died in
the prime of life, and at a period when his prospects
of a successful future were very brilliant. Living
somewhat as a gentleman of leisure, he devoted much
of his time to political affairs, and in his capacity of
legislator, there attaches not the least suspicion of a
JOHN" TUKNER. 395
want of fidelity. This testimony, in tlie times in
wliich we are writing, is eminently deserving of notice.
Frank Turner, following tlie example of his father,
has taken a very active part in promoting the charac-
ter and efficiency of the common schools of the town.
As was the custom in early days for all to labor,
Mr. Turner devoted himself assiduously to his occu-
pation : early and late, during the period of seed time
and harvest, he might be seen in the field, and doing
his full share of the work on hand — the first on " the
"Flats," in the morning, and the last to leave at night.
Careful, prudent and judicious, the accumulation of
much more than competency was tlie result. These
habits he kept up until age and decrepitude forbid
their continuance. During the few years preceding
his death, his sight and hearing became very much
impaired, and from necessity, he lived in a secluded
manner.
He was the last of a class of hardy and industrious
men, who for a long period of years gave tone and
high standing to old Plymouth, as a place where
labor was dignified in the character of the men who
performed it.
I conclude this notice with a quotation from an
obituary, from the pen of my brother, C. E. Wright,
Esquire, upon the death of Mr. Turner. The remarks
are truthful and well expressed:
" There "was much in the life and character of John Turner to
excite admiration, and fumisK a mddel for imitation. He was fru-
396 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
gal, industrious, studious and constant. In his life, when in the
enjoyment of health, there was little of waste time. He had a dis-
criminating mind, and the habit of constant thought.
" As you beheld him, you were assured the machinery of the
mind was never at rest. He read much, and digested what he read.
In his demeanor he was always dignified and grave. The low buf-
fooneries of the world he looked on with contempt. He would
have graced the highest walks of social or civil state, had fortune
oast him upon them.
" In his political opinions he was changeless. From the first to
the last he was a Democrat — not a noisy brawler, but quiet and
fixed. No one could ever force on him a demand for office. He
had his business line of life laid down, and from it he never
swerved.
" Mr. Turner's taste seemed to be for the intellectual. The
halls of public debate had a great charm for him. A man of
research, he delighted in any exposition of art, science, literature
or governmental policy. Hence the advocate, the lecturer, the pro-
fessor, or divine, found in him a patient, attentive, and discriminat-
ing auditor. Sharing, in a good degree, his confidence and friend-
ship while in life, I am happy to afford his memory the tribute of
my humble pen."
ATHERTONS.
The Athertons were among the first settlers of the
valley. Caleb, the ancestor of the Plymouth branch,
heads the list of Captain Eansom's company. The
other brothers, who immigrated from Connecticut,
were among the first settlers of Kingston. Jabez
was among the slain upon the Wyoming battle-field,
and came to the valley with John Jenkins, as early
as 1763.
Members of this family, therefore, were subjected
to as severe trials as often befall the lot of man.
MOSES ATHERTON. 397
The name in Plymouth has become extinct,
with that of Whittlesey, Alden, Bidlack, Pike,
Rogers, Allen, Heath, Eoberts, and many more; tra-
dition in a few years to come, will hardly preserve
them. But the times have been when these names
were familiar with the entire population of the town.
It is my desire, and that alone which challenges my
pen to preserve and perpetuate, so far as possible, the
names and memories of these men of a joreceding age,
and to give an idea to succeeding generations who
they were, how they behaved, what they endured, and
what they accomplished.
While I am unable to speak positively, I think
that Caleb Atherton was of the first "forty." Nor
can I ascertain whether he was in the Wyoming bat-
tle, or when, or where he died.
His son Moses, who succeeded his father in the
occupation and ownership of the family estate, was
born and died in Plymouth. I find his name on the
enrolment of 1796; so that his birth must have been
very soon after the occupation of the town by white
men — assuming that the name of no person was
placed upon this list under twenty-one years of age.
His residence was a few rods south of the Acad-
emy, and adjoining the Turner farm. The present
two-story frame house, upon the site of the first
building, was erected within my recollection — proba-
bly fifty-five years ago. The old barn on the opposite
side of the way, and which was old fifty years ago,
398 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
still stands in defiance of tlie angry elements with
which it has been in yearly conflict for a hundred
years.
Moses Atherton was a man, in stature, under the
medium size; he presented a peculiar appearance from
the manner in which he always wore his hat; it was
always drawn down half-way over one ear, and eleva-
ted an inch above the other. Being a short man, it
became necessary in his conversation to elevate the
side of his head the least covered by his hat, which
tended to tilt it still further over, which added to the
singularity of his presence. He was always ready, and
would seek the opportunity for a religious contro-
versy. A convert to the doctrines of universal salva-
tion, he went armed with all the panoply of that
liberal sect. Every passage of the Old and New Testa-
ment which could be made available for the support
of this doctrine, was at his tongue's end. Therefore,
upon all occasions of a gathering of the people — at
town meetings, militia trainings, elections, or assem-
blages of any kind — Mr. Atherton would be present,
ready, willing and anxious to take up the cudgels of
universal faith. And in whatever part of the crowd
you would see the little man, with hat on one side,
one ear concealed by its crown, and the other exjDOsed
to daylight, surrounded by a knot of listeners, you
could be assured that universal salvation was the
theme. He never tired in argument: his subject was
inexhaustible. .
OLD SETTLEES. 399
He was a man of industrious habits; he had a
large family of children, and his four sons became
highly respectable men of the town. His oldest,
Truman, resided many years at Huntsville, in what is
now Jackson township, and was the owner of the flour-
ing and lumber mills there. He was a representative
of the county in the General Assembly of the State for
two years, and a most worthy and excellent citizen.
He is still living, at an advanced age, in Huron county,
Ohio, where he removed some ten years ago.
Caleb, the second son, was elected High Sheriff
of the county in 1838. He has been dead several
years. Adnah, another son, is a resident farmer of
Wyoming county; and Stephen, the youngest son, is
a lumber dealer in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
It was my design to have extended these old
family sketches further, but my readers may well
conclude that they have been carried too far already.
There was a class of pioneers, however (whose
names, at least, I must not omit), who scaled the
northern wall of the valley, the Shawnee mountain,
and settled down on its western slope, literally in the
wilderness. A class cf hardy adventurers to whom
the rocks and forest trees, and the less productive soil,
were no obstacles. At the head of them were Thomas
Case, Thomas and John Lameroux and Jesse Brown,
James Pringle, Eden Ruggles, and Joshua and Ben-
najali Fuller, all of whom commenced their improve-
ments there before 1800.
25
400 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
In fact, from these families sprang a very large
number of the people now resident in Jackson.
Thomas Case had a family of eight sons, all of whom
grew to manhood, and Thomas Lameroux six. What
a power to reclaim the forest, and tame down the
wilderness, in two families only ! They faithfully ac-
complished the work. The vast extent and character of
the stone wall upon the farms of these two old settlers,
wei'e a matter of marvel in early days. The work was
all done by their own family forces, and well done;
and the miles of it to-day, stretching out over their
plantations, are a monument of the toil and industry
which were bestowed a half century since.
I remember well, when a young man, how one of
the sons of these families would be pointed out, as an
object of especial regard, for having laid so many feet
of stone wall in a day; and one of the others as having
dressed so many pounds of flax in a day.
How much nobler an object of praise than the
delicate white hand of modern youth, bedizened with
rings, or the nicety and precision with which the hair
of the head can be divided.
So far as it related to mutual acts of kindness, a
parallel may be drawn between these people of the
north-western slope of the mountain and their neigh-
bors below, with the ancient G-ael, or Scottish High-
lander, and the Saxon of the plains.
They would come down and help, at the harvest
on Shawnee Flats, receiving corn in exchange for their
OLD SETTLERS AT THE POLLS. 401
labor, and would drive down their cattle for pastur-
age, when the big " Swing Gate " was thrown back
upon its hinges, after the crops were gathered, as a
kind of general invitation to all, to enter the inviting
field with their flocks and herds.
These hardy and industrious peoj^le were a true
type of the times in which they lived. Labor to them
was inviting and honorable; and it was a subject of
boast with them, that their farms supplied them with
ail the necessary wants of life, and that they and
their children cultivated them with their own hands.
Simple and plain days, of a race of men now gone,
and their descendants scattered over the broad land.
Ah ! and the bones of many of them bestrew the
battle-fields of the late internecine war.
How well I remember these old patriarchs, dressed
in their holiday suit of homespun, coming down to
the election polls in the valley, fifty years ago, with
staff in hand, to deposit their ballots ! Not noisy or
boisterous, but sober, dignified, and thoughtful men.
Their arguments were interchanged in candor, and
their politics discussed in mild, inoffensive language.
The polls closed, they, returned to their mountain
homes, and whatever the result of the election may
have been, they yielded with grace to the will of the
majority. An effort made to cast an illegal vote,
branded with disgrace the name of the man who
had the hardihood or daring to give countenance to
the act.
CHAPTER XX.
OLD FAMILIES, CONTINUED — JOSEPH WRIGHT.
Y reminiscences of Plymoutli men, end with, a
biograpMcal notice of my father. I throw my-
self upon the indulgence of my readers, in paying a
short tribute of paternal regard to one of the kindest of
parents, as well as the best of men. I am well aware
that it is somewhat out of place, for the son to be the
biographer of the father, but as this one has passed
from the mortal stage, and that one is in the last act
in the drama of life, he will at least feel less sensi-
tive to criticism, than he might under other circum-
stances.
I am fully aware, too, of the force and power of
family pride, as well as family prejudice, and shall
therefore make an honest effort to confine myself to a
truthful statement of facts. If I exceed this, there
will be one consolation left, that mine will not have
been the first instance of a departure from the truth.
But those few who are now living, and who knew the
man, I am pretty certain will not charge me with col-
oring too highly the portrait I am drawing. Those
who did not know him, if they are in doubt and feel
inclined to pursue the subject, must seek the tradi-
tionary evidence of the town, and compare the result
of such inquiry with the narrative presented.
He was a resident of the town for more than half
(402)
JOSEPH WRIGHT.
JOSEPH WRIGHT. 403
a century, and during that long period, was inti-
mately connected with its municipal government, and
was one of its representative men. As the annual
assessor and auditor of the public accounts, he served
probably a much longer term than any other citizen
in it. Being remarkably correct in figures, and writ-
ing a most excellent hand, these burdens, for this
reason, were the more frequently imposed on him.
Such qualifications were not so common in the early
history of the town as they are now. The annual set-
tlement and auditing of the municipal accounts most
generally passed under his inspection. In later years,
Henderson Gaylord took upon himself a share of this
duty, and for a period of more than thirty years, these
two men performed, or supervised, this responsible
duty.
The discharge of public services did not pay so
well forty years ago as now. It was no sinecure then.
At the annual town meeting, the question would be,
"Will you accept the office.^ " Present customs shape
it somewhat difi'erently: " Will you please to give me
the office ? " A sense of public duty and obligation un-
der the old usages, assumed the imposition. I fear very
much that the emoluments of the office have a good
deal to do with it now.. But then the cost of living
now is more, rents are higher, and there does not
seem to be employment for aU the good people !
Then the deputy is to be paid out of the fees and
perqui 'tes; whereas, under the old and simple pro-
404 HISTOETCAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH,
cess of our ancestors, the principal was willing to do
the work with or without pay! Changes will come;
changes have come! Taxes, too, will increase; taxes
have increased ! Have they reached the maximum ?
And who shall answer this question ?
The old records of the town from 1807 to 1855,
will probahly show the name of Joseph Wright, in
connection with the administration of its municipal
affairs for at least half that period of time. I think,
also, that there is no person either who will allege
that the duties in this position were not faithfully,
honestly and coiTectly discharged.
Having thus been so long a resident of Plymouth,
and so closely associated with its prosperity and
growth, I feel that the people of the town will con-
sider the memory of the man as much their property
as that of his family. Making his home there at a
later period, and after the close of the early disasters
of the settlement^ there will not be of course that in-
terest in his personal biography as with many of those
who preceded him.
The family, consisting of seven brothers, came
from England in 1681, with William Penn's colony
of Quaker immigrants. John Wright, one of the
number, in a short time after the landing, commenced
a residence in the eastern part of Burlington county,
New Jersey, and was the first settler at Wrightstown,
being the founder in fact of the village, or little town
of that name.
JOSEPH WEIGHT. 405
He held, a commission of justice of the peace and
captain of the militia, under the royal seal of Charles
II. A diary kept by this pioneer is still in the pos-
session of the family. Among other things therein
recorded, it appears that ''he subscribed and paid £3
towards building the brick meeting-house." This
building is still standing, after a lapse of almost two
hundred years, and was probably the first meeting-
house erected in that State. It appears also that he
" made the first barrel of cider in the State of New
Jersey." The circumstances attending the jubilee
over this " first barrel of cider," I must insert. It
was an event in the history of the new country.
"He invited all his neighbors to partake; they
very willingly attended. Diike Fort was appointed
tapster; and a merrier assemblage never took place in
the neighborhood of Penny Hill, for so Wrightstown
was then called."
Among the curiosities contained in this old diary
I add the following : " The soil is very productive,
and the earth yields very bountifully; but then the
farmer has poor encouragement, considering that those
terrible pests, the wild geese and wild turkeys, de-
stroy. almost entirely one's crops."
The frontiersman of Minnesota and Dacotah may
be to-day noting down the same text, to be the won-
der of the people two hundred years hence.
At Wrightstown, on the second day of May, 1785,
the subject of this notice was born; and of the fourth
406 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
generation of the family in America. His father,
Caleb Wright, removed with his family to the " Sus-
quehanna country " in the year 1795.
He purchased and settled upon a farm in Union
township, two miles above Shickshinny, where he re-
mained till the year 1811, and then returned to New
Jersey. During this time Joseph had married, and
commenced a small retail store in Plymouth — already
mentioned. He alone of the family remained here.
Joseph Wright was the second merchant of old
Plymouth. His ancestors for two hundred years be-
fore him having belonged to the " Society of Friends,"
he steadily adhered to the faith of that religi£>us or-
der of people to the hour of his death. Notwith-
standing he had been expelled from the Society, be-
cause he had married outside of the church hmits,
and in direct violation of its discipline, he ever consid-
ered himself as one of the order, however, and bound
by its formulas and creed. He would say, " that in
matter of substance he had lived up to the faith of
I his fathers; but that in two matters of form only,
viz. : his marriage, and submitting to the military
draft of 1812, he had wandered a trifle, but that this
was by no means a matter of regret." And 23robably
these were the only two instances in which he had
failed, during a long and eventful life, of fulfilling the
requirements of his creed. And yet it is somewhat
difficult to reconcile his professed religious obligations,
in view of his conduct in entering the service in the
JOSEPH WRIGHT. 407
war of 1812. His argument was, "mj people enjoin
peace, and so do I, unless tlie enemy is upon the
border, and then there should be no peace till he be
expelled; nor can I relieve my conscience by sending
a substitute in my place, for I would thus only be
doing indirectly what the country demands directly of
all her citizens. I must, therefore, lay aside the
Quaker coat, and shoulder the musket, if the requisi-
tion of the draft falls to my lot."
It did; and in 1814 we find him in Captain Hal-
leck's company of Pennsylvania militia, on the march
for the defense of Baltimore, which was besieged by
British guns. Patriotism had triumphed over relig-
ious fealty; the tri-colored cockade usurped the broad
brim.
The regiment, however, was countermanded in its
march, and he, with the others, was discharged; but
for the small service he lived to receive the govern-
ment bounty in a land warrant of one hundred and
forty acres of the public domain — an acknowledg-
ment upon the part of the government of which he
was exceedingly proud. And who shall say that van-
ity, under such circumstances, is not tolerable ?
The occupation of a merchant does not seem to
have been congenial to him. He pursued it but a
short time, and abandoned it, for, to him, the more
active and agreeable employment on the farm. And
into the business he went with all his energy and in-
domitable will.
408 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Endowed by nature witli an iron constitution, and
possessing a frame-work begirt with stalwart thews
and sinews, he was prepared to resist ordinary obsta-
cles, and his mind was made up to light out the
great battle of life in a heroic and resolute manner.
The marshals of the First Consul, fighting under the
eye of their great captain, never entered the field with
a more determined purpose to win than did he. And
with this fixed and unchangeable determination, you
might see him at all hours and seasons, and in all
kinds of weather, steadily pursuing his occupation.
Entirely temperate in his habits, and eminently moral
in all his relations of life, and having a well balanced
mind, and much more than ordinary intellect, success
was certain.
The early Plymouth men, almost, I may say,
without exception, seem to have had a hankering for
a share of the broad acres of the great field. Their
wealth and social consequence seem to have been
measured by the number of acres they could acquire
of it. As the wealth and position of the nomadic
chiefs of the hills of Judea were estimated according
to the number of cattle of their grazing herds, so
were these men as to the number of acres they owned
of the " Shawnee Flats."
Sharing therefore this feeling of ambition, if not to
a greater extent than most of his neighbors, at least
to an equal degree with any of them, he deserted the
shop, and entered the field of labor, literally, without
JOSEPH WRIGHT. 409
the least mental reservation. His aim was the ac-
quisition of land; and had he followed out this idea
alone, he would have died a man of very large wealth.
In the place of leaving for his children thirty or forty
thousand dollars^ it might have been ten times mul-
tij)lied.
He was a model farmer; no man understood its
theory and practice better. He knew when to sow,
and when to reap; how to crop, and the mode and
manner of agriculture, from the most important to
the smallest details. And his rapid success was an
evidence that he thoroughly understood the business,
Andj as Byron said of George III.:
" A better farmer ne'er brushed dew from lawn."
He possessed a solid judgment, and he came to
his conclusions after deep thought and deliberate re-
flection. He read much in his intervals from his
daily toil. Josephus, Eollin, Hume and Eamsay
were his standards as to ancient and modern history.
Shakspeare, Sir Walter Scott and Burns were his
posts. He could almost entirely repeat the " Lady
of the Lake," and " Marmion." And the " Cotter's
Saturday Night " was his ideal of the master.
Thus reading, and reflecting upon what he had
read, there was presented to him an obstacle in his
pathway to a liberal fortune. He stopped to consider
it, and relaxed his efforts for the addition of acres,
410 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
and turned his thoughts upon the education of his
children.
" Knowledge, if properly applied," he would say,
" is of more importance than gold or silver. A stock
in trade of education needs no policy of insurance; it
cannot be burned by fire; it cannot be encumbered
with debts and sold under the auctioneer's hammer;
and therefore my sons may 'choose, at the proper age,
whether they will pursue my occupation, or acquire a
learned profession."
Adopting, therefore, this idea, and treating it as a
fixed fact, he set himself about the work of its accom-
plishment. To do it, however, must necessarily dis-
pel the hope of becoming rich; the money, therefore,
annually laid aside to buy more acres, must now be
applied to other purposes. " Boys," he would say
(and by the way this was the manner in which he
would address us when we were gray-headed men),
"boys, it is my purpose, if my life be spared, to give
each of you an opportunity of fitting yourselves for
the pursuit of a learned profession. While I am en-
tirely satisfied with my own lot in life, I cannot but
feel that if I had had a better education, I should
Lave been a happier man. Though as to this, I may
be mistaken; for I entertain a greater respect for a
first-rate farmer or mechanic, than I do for a second
or third-rate professional man. Knowing, therefore,
that I am a first-rate farmer, my position is one that
I am proud of; and as such, the community respect
JOSEPH WEIGHT. 411
tne. Had I held an indifferent standing in any of
the professions, with my ambition, I should not have
the same feeling of pride that I now enjoy. There-
fore, it is probable that it is all for the best. You
must understand, however, that you must thoroughly
learn my trade first. For this I have two reasons.
In the first place, you will leave me with a fully de-
veloped frame, with sinews and muscles matured, and
you will thus be prepared for the rough shock of the
world, whether in the camp or civil life. All this may
be done now, but not after you have reached the
years of manhood. In the second place, if you shall
not have the talents and ability to sustain yourselves
in a learned pursuit, you will have the knowledge of
my trade to fall back upon as a reserve, and so be
enabled to make a living with the lessons of industry
I shall teach you. Bear in mind, too, if you choose a
profession, to strive and be at the head of it, or do
not make the effort at all. You will, therefore, con-
tinue to labor daily in the field by my side, in seed
time and harvest; attending the school, at home,
during the winter months, till you severally reach the
age of eighteen years; by that time you will have
matured your physical power, and also have learned
my trade; and I hope will also have obtained suffi-
cient knowledge and judgment to decide for yourselves
as to your future course. And as you shall then de-
termine, the responsibility must rest with you, not
me."
412 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Here is the reasoning of a philosoplier, and could
not have been improved with the possession of the
learning and wisdom of all the schools. Plain
common sense, accompanied with a sound discretion,
seldom to be found in a man who had been blessed
with so few opportunities in early life.
Acting, therefore, under this advice, myself and
two younger brothers, in arriving each at the age of
eighteen years, with a pretty good knowledge of
the rudiments of learning, acquired during the winter
months, in the old Academy, under the tuition of
Jonah Kogers, Thomas Patterson, Charles C. Curtis,
and Thomas Sweet, as well as a pretty good develop-
ment of body and frame from the field lessons on
Shawnee Flats, went through a classical course of
study, and severally became members of the Luzerne
county bar. With what degree of success, however,
it does not become me to speak. My readers, how-
ever, vnll pardon me in saying of my younger brother,
Harrison, now deceased some fifteen years, that a
more profound lawyer and jurist, or an abler or more
eloquent advocate, never practised law in the courts
of the county of Luzerne. He died in the meridian
of life, and with the most brilliant prospects of an
eminent professional career before him.
While my father professed to belong to the old
Federal school in politics, and was a regular reader
of the United States Gazette, so long as Mr. Chand-
ler continued to edit that paper, he did not have any-
JOSEPH WRIGHT. 413
tiling to dOj ordinarily, with party affairs. He would
generally make his own selections from both party
tickets at the polls, and seldom voted what is called a
" straight ticket." He was, however, a great admirer
of Henry Clay, and whenever the name of this great
statesman came before the people, then his energies
knew no bounds. In fact all of the old party men of
the Federal, or in later days the Whig school, were
wonderfully attached to Mr. Clay. They would
make any reasonable sacrifice for his advancement,
and I have seen many of his old friends and sup-
porters shed tears over his defeat. He was literally
the idol of his party, and a more noble and gallant
political leader never occupied the commanding posi-
tion of party ranks. The unkindest remark I ever
had from my father, came from him in consequence
of some strictures I had made upon Mr. Clay, in a
speech, advocating Mr. Polk's election, in 1844. He
remarked to me, " that he blushed to be the father of
a son who had not the independence of character to
sustain such a man as Henry Clay, in preference to a
man of the talents and statesmanship of James K.
Polk ! That no personal benefit could arise to me, if
he should by scheming strategy and deception mis-
lead the public mind, and secure the election; of
which, in his judgment, there was not the remotest
chance."
This language was expressed with much energy
and deep feeling, and months elapsed before the
414 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
impression wore away from the old gentleman's mind.
Mr. Polk, however, was elected, and as events turned
out, there was a strange reality in the prophecy; for
notwithstanding I had been the presiding officer of
the boisterous and stormy convention which gave him
the nomination at Baltimore, and participated in all
the preliminary movements which terminated in his
nomination and subsequent success,- 1 was unable to
control the appointment of a ten-dollar postmaster,
in this district, during his administration of the gov-
ernment.
Meeting, therefore, with this rebuff, after the
important relations between him and myself, I must
canfess that my mind would go back to the expres-
sions made by my father. For I never did know, and
do not now know, the cause of Mr. Polk's turning a
deaf ear to every suggestion I made to him on the
subject of local patronage. A third of a century has
however elapsed, and it is now a matter of exceed-
ingly small moment.
My father had a wonderful passion for the
drama, and particularly in the representation of the
plays of Henry IV., and the Merry Wives of Wind-
sor, in the character of Falstaff. The humor of these
plays seemed to have filled full the cup of his enjoy-
ment. In his early days he was in the habit of visit-
ing Philadelphia two or three times a year to pur-
chase the goods for his store. He would attend faith-
fully to the work of the day, but would always go to
JOSEPH WEIGHT. 415
the theatre at night, if any play was posted that
pleased him. I have heard him say " that if he
were in Philadelphia with but two dollars in his
pocket, he would spend one of them at the theatre."
This, in fact, was about the only thing in which
he was extravagant, and the expenditure of a dollar
for any thing else not absolutely necessary, very sel-
dom occurred.
Hospitable in his house, moderately indulgent
only to his children, economical in his apparel,
though always dressed neatly and becomingly, when
not engaged in labor, he may be classed as a man of
the strictest economy, and governed by the most rigid
rules of frugality; not parsimonious, but prudent and
close in his management. To all this, however, he
made one grand exception in the expenditm-es, for a
man considering his means and habits of life, in the
education of his sons. In this he was liberal to a
fault. The ruling and absorbing passion of his early
life to become rich, became merged in the nobler and
more exalted sentiment of education, and in that
moving idea he was most generously seconded by my
mother. On that topic they acted in perfect accord,
as well as to the full and 23erfect accomplishment of
their purpose. Through years of toil and personal
privations they accomplished the object nearest their
hearts. And it affords me much satisfaction to re-
cord the fact, that neither of them ever expressed a
regret for these sacrifices they assumed,
26
416 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
Altliougli sectarian in his Qiial^er creed, the spirit
of universal toleration in matters of religion never
more eminently shone out in the character of any
man. His doors were always open to the visiting
clergy, and they were profusely entertained with the
best his house afforded. To those of them who were
poor and needy, he was liberal. They did not go
away without carrying with them some evidence of
his generosity.
He was temperate in all things—- in his tastes, in
his language, and all his habits. I never saw him
under the slightest influence of liquor ; nor did I
ever hear a profane or irreverent expression escape
from his lips.
During the last few years of his life, though in
very easy, if not to say affluent circumstances, he
would not permit himself to be idle. If he did not
take a farming implement in his hands, he would nev-
ertheless spend most of the day in the field, and if a
necessity arose, would cheerfully give his aid and
assistance.
In the fulfilment of his engagements he was exact,
and up to the hour. No man ever had more horror
of debt. In the settlement of his estate, and it was a
large one, the whole amount of his indebtedness, of
his own contracting, did not amount to ten dollars.
He avoided the law; and would incur the loss of a
small debt sooner than prosecute the claim. He would
say to his debtors who had disappointed him, "you
JOSEPH WRIGHT. 417
have deceived me, but I shall take care that you do
not have another opportunity." In his business trans-
actions of half a century, and they were large, I know
that an action of law was never instituted against
him; nor do I remember of an encumbrance of judg-
ment or mortgage entered against him, or of a suit
brought by him. He bought and he paid — and he
never bought till he had the means to pay.
He was literally a peace-maker among his neigh-
bors. Frequently called upon to act as umpire in
neighborhood disputes and difficulties, he would most
generally reconcile the conflicting opinions of the par-
ties who sought his advice and counsel. Understand-
ing the whims, caprices, and peculiarities of the people
before him, and knowing how to humor and when to
use argument, his strong and well-adjusted mind gen-
ei-ally terminated the controversy. I have seen neigh-
bors thus before bim, who would refuse to speak to
each other civilly when they came, shake hands before
they left, and go away apparently the best of friends.
He would frequently bring these people in his pres-
ence by strategy, and after he had healed up the open
wound of dispute, and reconciled them to each other,
he would tell them how they had been brought face
to face, and for what purpose; and then they would
all laugh, and after emptying a mug of cider, all part
in merry glee. His judgment fee would generally be
"a big apple!" I have seen the parties litigant, on
more than one occasion, in the way of carrying out
418 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.
the joke, come afterward and make a formal tender of
"the big apple," and demand "a receipt in full of
the taxable cost of the case."
The Danes have a law, that is in force in their
West India possessions, and probably also with the
home government, that no suitor shall be permitted
to bring his case into coutr, till he has first made an
eifort to settle the matter of dispute with his adver-
sary^ before a mutual friend or umpire. Might we
not improve our own jurisprudence by engrafting this
Danish law upon a limb of our legal tree ?
And so, in a few paragraphs, I have sketched the
outlines merely of a moral, industrious, upright, and
exemplary man :
" For even Ms failings lean'd to virtue's side."
The last acts of his life were in keeping with his
previous conduct. But a few days before his death,
and when it was manifest that the end was near at
hand, some one at his bedside inquired if he would
have a minister, in view of religious services ? He
said, "No; I am not aware that I ever did a human
creature a wrong, and I have, therefore, no confession
to make; and as to the future, I have an abiding and
firm faith in the creed of my fathers. Death has no
terrors to me. I rather consider him my friend,"
And under this state of mind he entered the spirit
world.
The expressions are fresh in my memory, and so
JOSEPH WEIGHT. 419
they will be wMe it exists; and I have thought a
thousand times how happy a man I should be, if it
were in my power, to truthfully utter such a sentiment,
in my own case.
He died on the fourteenth day of August, 1855,
in his seventy-first year. His remains rest in the
Hollenback Cemetery, in the city of Wilkes-Barre.
THE END.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
014 645 182 2